Freshman Wins Local Poetry Out Loud Contest

Sam Burns, a freshman here at BUHS, has just won the local poetry out loud competition, held at the Inyo Council for the arts in her first year of participation. In a high school only competition, Burns beat out the six other participants from Frazier Mountain, Big Pine, Independence, Palisades, and BUHS in a very “fun and nerve racking” experience. She wasn’t expecting to win, but as the only freshman that one, it is “more than she could have asked for”.

Sam is very passionate about poetry and these types of competitions, she even won the speech contest last year, when she represented SDA middle school, for her speech about the Water Crisis. Sam is going to go on to State Finals next, which will be held in the State Capital building, and she will be competing against 55 other kids in State Finals. If she wins State, she’ll go onto Nationals and compete against the winners from the other 49 states. Burns is not expecting to win at State at all but it would be a “dream come true”.

She plans to read the two poems that she read here, “Equuscabullas”, by Joel Nelson, and “Always Something More Beautiful”, by Steven Dunn, as well as “In Schools House Days”, by John Greenleaf Whittier. When you see Sam, make sure to congratulate her and wish her luck.

Poetry Out Loud, BUHS, Broncos, State Finals, Sam Burns, Poetry