Fifth Former Courtney Rutledge took home Honorable Mention accolades in the Rhode Island State "Poetry Out Loud" competition, held March 11 at Rhode Island College.  Courtney had gone to the state finals, representing Portsmouth Abbey, in place of Caroline Mason '08, who was unable to attend.  She gave two recitations, "Fever 103 degrees," by Sylvia Plath, and "On Monsieur's Departure," by Queen Elizabeth I.

Poetry Out Loud is a program sponsored nationally by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation in Chicago, IL.  Organized along the lines of the national spelling bee, Poetry Out Loud promotes competitions at the high school level throughout the country, with local winners going to state finals, and from there to the national championship competition.

Portsmouth Abbey was one of nine R.I. schools that participated in the state finals.  In all, more than 400 R.I. high school students took part in the program.

Pictured in the photo are Courtney, far left, with Randal Rosenbaum, executive director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts; Lisa Starr, Rhode Island Poet Laureate (back, center); the first-, second- and third-place state winners; and a representative from Poetry Out Loud.

Congratulations, Courtney!