Tiana Jones, a sophomore at Whitefield Academy in Cobb County, finished second in the nation and won a $10,000 prize at the national Poetry Out Loud competition in Washington, D.C., yesterday, May 2.
Tiana was one of nine national finalists from the more than 160,800 students that participated in this year’s Poetry Out Loud, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation along with state and jurisdictional arts agencies. In the past 10 years, Georgia has celebrated one national champion, three second-place finishers, and one third-place finisher, and Georgia students have collectively been awarded a total of $55,000 at the National Finals. Three of those students have come from Whitefield Academy in Mableton.
“Georgia Council for the Arts is thrilled by Tiana’s significant accomplishment! We also want to recognize the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta for their dedication to administering this meaningful program for our state. Poetry Out Loud not only introduces high school students to a range of poetry, but also teaches public speaking skills and builds self-confidence, both of which are invaluable as they move from school to the workforce,” stated Georgia Council for the Arts Executive Director Tina Lilly.
