Minnesota 2013 Poetry Out Loud Champions

Yemi Ajagbe

On March 18, 2013, thirty students from high schools across the state competed for the title of Minnesota Poetry Out Loud state champion at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Yemi Ajagbe of Woodbury High School (Woodbury), was named the winner with her recitation of Give All to Love, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, I Am the People, the Mob, by Carl Sandburg, and Cartoon Physics, part 1, by Nick Flynn.

Ajagbe represents Minnesota at the national finals in Washington, DC, on April 28-30, 2013, competing with other champions from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

• Runner-up: Faiza Mohamed Abubakar—Ubah Medical Academy, Hopkins
• 3rd Place: Joseph-Charles Peeples-Hampton—Main Street School of Performing Arts, Hopkins
• 4th Place: Arye Lovestrand—Arcadia Charter School, Northfield
• 5th Place: Xavier Byrd—Gordon Parks High School, Saint Paul
• 6th Place: Corrina Mussehl—Rogers High School, Rogers

Other state finalists included (in alphabetical order):

• Angela Burgess—Clearbrook-Gonvick High School, Clearbrook
• Eric Dewitte—Marshall School, Duluth
• Jennifer Kim—Century High School, Rochester
• Christine Menge—Blaine High School, Blaine
• Hori Mohamud—Lincoln International High School, Minneapolis
• Chelsie Othoudt—Milaca High School, Milaca