The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

On March 23, 10 Bridge City finalists entertained judges and audience members with the presentation of speeches and readings in interpretive literature for the 105th Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation.

The five finalists in Declamation were Sarah Armand, Jacqueline Hernandez, Kyle Marshall, Faith Rowe, and Bradley Weatherholt. The second-place winner was sophomore Faith Rowe with a commencement speech by Anna Quindlen, and the first-place winner was senior Kyle Marshall, delivering Will Ferrell’s Harvard 352nd Commencement Address.

In Interpretative Reading, the five finalists were Jake Dionne, Emily Kosh, Hailey Tally, Tara Townes, and Bruce Wright. Winning second-place was freshman Bruce Wright with an excerpt from Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, and taking first place was sophomore Hailey Tally reading “The Outcast” by Audrey Murray.

Each second-place winner will receive a $1500 university scholarship. The two first-place winners will receive a $2000 university scholarship and the chance to continue in the competition for another $7500.

The seven thousand dollars awarded to four BCHS students is part of the Stark Foundation scholarship fund.  Kyle and Hailey will now compete in the county-wide finals against the first-place winners from each of the four other county schools. This competition will be held at at 3:00 pm., April 26th, at the Lutcher Theatre.