Students every year have the opportunity to participate and represent the school by competing in the Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation. This year, 10 students have continued on to the school finals for the Stark Reading Contest after the school tryouts on Feb. 16 and 17.

In the Declamation category, senior Connor Alexander, sophomore Jordan Alexander, sophomore Jackson Baeza, Elizabeth Johns, and Sydney Smith advanced. In the Interpretive category, junior Spencer Johns, junior Alora Jones, senior Kaylee Patillo, sophomore Eli Ridout, and senior Caitlyn Sulak advanced.

“Stark reading immerses me in literature and connects me with other students that are participating,” junior Alora Jones said.

The students have been practicing and perfecting their pieces to make sure that they can do as well as they can.

“I’ve been preparing for about three to four weeks, going over my speech every night,” sophomore Jordan Alexander said.

These students use this opportunity to not only perfect their reading pieces, but also better themselves. This contest takes a lot of dedication and effort and these students have learned to adapt to this.

“I have learned that it takes a lot of work and determination to be able to do good in this field and that nothing will come easy to me,” Alexander said.

This contest will not only affect these participants now, but also in their future. This will help them in their later years to succeed, as long as they put in the work and continue onto the next rounds.

“Well if I place at school finals and at county finals, I can win scholarship money, which would greatly help me out for college,” sophomore Jackson Baeza said.

The school finals round will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26 at the LCMHS auditorium.

“I learned to take the help people give,” Baeza said of preparing for this event. “This is such a great opportunity to succeed and put me further ahead, which is just amazing.”