OF Stark winners

Cutline: Orangefield High School students Sydney Catt, left, Brayden Berry, Ryan Posey and Whitley Hoyland were honored at the March 2 Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation. Berry and Posey won first place awards and $2,000 scholarships from the sponsoring Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation. They will compete in the County Final April 23 at Lutcher Theater. Catt and Hoyland received second-place honors and $1,500 scholarships.

Berry, Posey lead OF’s Stark Readers

(…staff reports …)

Orangefield High School students Brayden Berry and Ryan Posey earned first place in Declamation and Interpretive Reading, respectively, at the school-level finals of the 113th Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation.

The Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation is a scholarship program sponsored by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

Orangefield High School students competed in the local-level contest, which was held Thursday, March 2, and coordinated by Ron Chevalier, Orangefield High School teacher and school director for the Stark Reading Contest. Berry won first place in Declamation with Ryan Sandburg's speech at the Baseball Hall of Fame, while Posey won first place in Interpretive Reading with his presentation of an excerpt from Albert Camus' The Stranger. Second place in Declamation went to Sydney Catt, with Whitley Hoyland receiving second-place honors in Interpretive Reading.

Stark Reading Contest 2016 county final participant Katy Swiere served as the emcee for the Orangefield competition. Zach Quinn, Orangefield High School Principal, presented the awards to the 2016-17 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 Orangefield 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 23, 2017 at 2 p.m. at the Lutcher Theater.