Kate McKeown, a 10th-grader from Leavitt Area High School in Turner, will represent Maine at the National Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C., in April. She will compete for a $20,000 college scholarship.

McKeown won the state finals in Lewiston earlier this month.

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership among the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation and all of the nation’s state arts agencies. It began with more than 100,000 students across the United States competing, including more than 1,000 in Maine.

As winner of the state final, McKeown receives $200, and her school receives a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. She also receives a paid trip to compete in the National Finals in Washington, D.C., April 28-29. The second-place finisher, Lydia McOscar of Bangor High School, will receive $100, with $200 going to her school library.

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