For the second year in a row, the same person has been named the Oregon Poetry Out Loud state champion.
18-year-old Rosie Reyes is a senior at Gresham's Center for Advanced Learning. This past weekend she took the top honors at Poetry Out Loud competition in Salem. One of the judges called her reading spellbinding. Reyes recited "The Pomegranate and the Big Crowd," by Alberto Rios.
Reyes: "Everyone gathered, her friends and his. Everyone watched. The boys, the girls, the pigs, the chickens and more."
Reyes advances to the national Poetry Out Loud competition in Washington, D.C. in late April. Maxwell Romprey of West Salem High was named Oregon runner up and will fill in for Reyes at nationals if needed.