The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Vidor High School students Madison Marino and Alana Jones earned first place in Declamation and Interpretive Reading, respectively, at the school-level finals of the 111th Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation, a scholarship program sponsored by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

Saturday, March 7, 10 Vidor High School students competed in the local-level contest, which was coordinated by Anne Lilyquist, Vidor High School teacher and school director for the Stark Reading Contest. Marino won first place in Declamation with UN Earth Summit, by Severn Suzuki, while Jones won first place in Interpretive Reading with her presentation of an excerpt from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Second place in Declamation went to Zachary Domec, with Madison Brasher receiving second-place honors in Interpretive Reading.

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 Vidor 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 Tuesday, April 28, at 6:00 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 to 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 2014-15 school year the 111th 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.

The 2015 winners of the school-level competition held March 7, at Vidor High School (Left to Right): Alana Jones: 1st place, Interpretive Reading; 2nd place Madison Brasher, Interpretive Reading; Madison Marino: 1st place, Declamation; Zachary Domec: 2nd place, Declamation.