Bow High School freshman Reed Van Dyck took the stage, not to sing, dance or act as she often does, but to recite poetry.

Reed represented her school as a semifinalist in the Poetry Out Loud State Championship and was selected as one of the eight finalists. The alternate champion from Bow was junior Ethan Nappan.

Champions from 15 schools across the state came together on Saturday, March 22, for a verbal showdown at the Redfern Art Center at Keene State College.

New Hampshire’s representative was chosen for the Poetry Out Loud 2008 National Finals on April 29 in Washington, D.C. For the second year in a row, Laura Messner of Exeter High School won first place with her intense recitations, including “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Runner-up was Cote Laramie of Concord High School, and tied for third were Sarah Cotton of Salem High School and Molly McCahan of Plymouth Regional High School. The other four finalists were Bow’s Van Dyck, Minta Carlson of Newmarket Junior/Senior High School, Kai Fukunaga of Dover High School, and Hanna Skelton of Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy.

Memorized, understood and presented aloud, poems come off the page and resonated with a whole range of real-life experience and emotion, spanning generations and cultures and backgrounds.

That’s what students and audiences discovered through the Poetry Out Loud program, in which more than 4,400 students participated statewide this year.

Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Sylvia Plath, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lewis Carroll – sounded out on the lips of a new generation as competitors stepped in front of the microphone.

Though each presenter’s connection with the poem was evident and many seemed to be speaking words of their own, the poems were chosen from the Poetry Out Loud catalog of about 1,000 classic and modern works. Expert judges scored on presentation, dramatization, accuracy and difficulty.

This year, Van Dyck said, competitors were required to include one pre-20th century work in their three selected poems. She chose “We Wear the Mask,” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and it proved her biggest challenge.

“It was originally written by a black man about slavery,” said Van Dyck. “I discussed with my family what the poem could mean today. In high school, people wear masks and don’t express how they really feel. I incorporated that experience into my recitation.”

Van Dyck said she was really nervous but then it was fun.

“I was surprised how much I enjoyed it,” she said. “When I got to the finals, it was a huge shock for me. I was pleased with my performance and that’s all that mattered to me, especially with the performance of ‘We Wear the Mask.’ The whole day was satisfying, especially watching everyone else. They were all amazing, a really good group and really talented.”

Rodger Martin, director of New Hampshire Poetry Out Loud, was also enthusiastic about the presentations. “What impresses me this year is the quantum leap in quality. The recitations gave me chills,” he said at the end of the competition.

Laramie has been interested in poetry since elementary school, but this was his first competition.

“I was speechless to be in the final eight,” he said. “I went so much further than I thought I would and I’m so glad I got to represent my school. This competition encourages kids that it’s OK to be into poetry.”

Laramie presented a moving recitation of Walt Whiteman’s “Oh Captain, My Captain” during the final round.

As state champion, Messner received a check for $200 from The Poetry Foundation and a check for $500 will go to the Exeter High School library for the purchase of poetry books.

The National Endowment for the Arts will provide an all-expenses paid trip for Messner and a parent or chaperone to the nation’s Capitol, where she will compete against other state champions for the national title and opportunities to win almost $50,000 in scholarships.

All semifinalists received certificates and gifts from the event sponsors and each finalist was awarded a $2,500 scholarship to New England College.

In 2006, Reed Van Dyck’s sister, Teal, then a senior at Bow High School, represented New Hampshire at the national competition and finished second, winning a $10,000 scholarship. Teal was on break from Hampshire College and sat in the audience on March 22 to support Reed.

“She’s my best friend,” said Reed. “She didn’t give me a lot of advice because what worked for her wouldn’t work for me, but it meant a lot to me that she could be there. Attending Nationals that year with Teal and hearing so many people do poems, I got a grasp of how individual it is. You need to pick the poem that’s right for you. Also, it’s hard work and you really have to understand your poem. If you’ve never read a poem and you can listen to someone recite it and you think, ‘I get that,’ and you really understand it, they’ve done a great job.”

Other semi-finalists included Annalise Pennell of Hopkinton Middle High School, Benjamin Mueser of John Stark Regional High School, Amanda Kruczinski of Pembroke Academy, Sven Wiberg of Oyster River High School, Alexandra Young of Pittsfield Middle High School, Laurel Weatherby of Winnacunnet High School and Alexis Taffe of Timberlane Regional High School.

The competition is sponsored by the New Hampshire State Council of the Arts, and nationally by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. Poetry Out Loud encourages young people to learn about poetry through memorization and performance, while developing public-speaking skills, self-confidence and knowledge of their literary heritage.

New Hampshire partners for Poetry Out Loud include the N.H. Writers’ Project, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Keene State College, the Arts Alliance of Northern N.H., The Poetry Society of New Hampshire, the Frost Place in Franconia and Toadstool Bookstores of Peterborough and Milford.