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March 7: Chloe Doyle (2nd Place in Declamation), Jackson Pachar (1st Place in Declamation), Ava Gassen (1st Place in Interpretive Reading) and India Bonnette (2nd Place in Interpretive Reading). -
Feb. 16: Alexis Baumgartner (2nd Place in Declamation), Alicia Odom (1st Place in Declamation), Lance Parks (1st Place in Interpretive Reading) and Naomi James (2nd Place in Interpretive Reading). -
Feb. 10: Zachary Jagoe (2nd Place in Interpretive Reading), Shelby Eason (1st Place in Interpretive Reading), Sadie Prouse (1st Place in Declamation) and Madeleine Wernig (2nd Place in Declamation). -
Feb. 7: Cameron Cain (2nd Place in Interpretive Reading), Triston Tinkle (1st Place in Interpretive Reading), Ashley Callahan (1st Place in Declamation) and Brenna Wingate (2nd Place in Declamation). -
March 6: Abigayle Welch (2nd Place in Interpretive Reading), Jessica Ridout (1st Place in Interpretive Reading), Sarah Howell (1st Place in Declamation) and Cole Watson (2nd Place in Declamation).
Over the past five weeks, local finalists have participated in the last rounds of the 118th Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation, a program sponsored by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation. These contests have been held at each Orange County public high school: Bridge City, Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Orangefield, Vidor, and West Orange-Stark, and collectively attended by over 180 members of the community. Between preliminary and Local Final rounds, 115 students competed across the five schools.
Each second-place winner in the categories of Declamation and Interpretive Reading was awarded $1,500 in scholarships from the Stark Foundation, while the two first-place winners were awarded $2,000 in scholarships. The first-place winners from each high school will go on to compete at the County Final of the Stark Reading Contest, scheduled for Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m. at the Lutcher Theater.
Each Local Final competition was coordinated by the school’s director for the Stark Reading Contest: Melanie Claybar (LC-M), Ron Chevalier (Orangefield), Adam Conrad (Vidor), Mason Franco (West Orange) and Hannah Landry (Bridge City).
The Stark Reading Contest is sponsored by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation as part of its continuing mission to enrich the quality of life in the Orange community and encourage education. The aim of the contest is “to enhance the literary and forensic quality and skills of Orange County public high school students.” The Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation is a private operating foundation established in 1961 to encourage and assist education and to improve and enrich the quality of life in Southeast Texas. The Stark Foundation maintains programs such as the Stark Museum of Art, the W.H. Stark House, the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts, and Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center.