Colorado teen headed to national 'Poetry Out Loud' competition

credit: Flickr

"I like thinking about how the poet put it there for a reason."

So says Rize Simmons of Windsor High School in Colorado, winner of the state Poetry Out Loud competition.

The 17-year-old will move on to the national competition in April, where he'll receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC, with an adult chaperone, reports the Denver Post.

Simmons won by performing "Songs for the People" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, "The Song of the Smoke" by Toi Derricotte, and "Black Boys Play the Classics" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper at the state finals in Denver on Saturday, per a press release.

Eleven students from 11 schools competed.

Among the runners-up were Hana Kebede from Overland High School in Aurora andLorena Orozco from Roosevelt High School in Johnstown.

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