The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

The 2016 winners of the school-level competition held Feb. 21, at West Orange - Stark High School (Left to Right): Tyffani Hinson, first place, Declamation; Jared Dupree, second place, Declamation; Olivia Basinger, first place, Interpretive Reading and Elaziah Nickerson, second place, Interpretive Reading.

West Orange-Stark High School students Tyffani Hinson and Olivia Basinger earned first place in Declamation and Interpretive Reading, respectively, at the school-level finals of the 112^th Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation, a scholarship program sponsored by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

On Sunday, Feb. 21, West Orange-Stark High School students competed in the local-level contest, which was coordinated by Dylan Bennet, West Orange-Stark High School teacher and school director for the Stark Reading Contest. Tyffani Hinson won first place in Declamation with Obama's Selma Speech (2007)by Senator Barack Obama, while Basinger won first place in Interpretive Reading with her presentation of an excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee. Second place in Declamation went to Jared Dupree, with Elaziah Nickerson receiving second-place honors in Interpretive Reading.

Morris Joseph and Margan Ferguson served as the emcees for the West Orange-Stark competition. Dr. Alicia Sigee, West Orange-Stark High School Assistant Principal, presented awards to the 2015-16 school-level contest winners.

Each second-place winner 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 West Orange-Stark High School will go on to compete against the first-place winners from other participating Orange County public high schools at the County Final of the Stark Reading Contest, which is scheduled for Sunday, April 24, at 2:00 p.m. at the Lutcher Theater.

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 Contest has continued annually since its inception in 1904, which makes the 2015-16 school year the 112^th annual year of the Contest. In addition to offering educational opportunities and experiences for students at eligible Orange County public high schools, participating students may earn scholarship awards for continued education.