South Whidbey student Sommer Harris has earned a spot in the state finals of the Poetry Out Loud  contest to be held March 10 at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts’ Rialto Theatre in Tacoma.

Harris won one of the two eligible spots at the regional competition held Feb. 8, where she competed against 10 other students in the region. She will be joined by a student representative from Bellingham at the finals.

At the regional competition Harris chose to perform Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” and a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson titled, “Crossing the Bar.”

Twelve winners from around the state will participate in the state final. The winner will represent Washington in the national finals in Washington, D.C., May 13-15, at the Harman Center for the Arts.

Poetry Out Loud is sponsored regionally by the Northwest Educational Service District 189 in Anacortes, and across the state by the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

This is the sixth year that high school students in Washington were a part of Poetry Out Loud, a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry.

Caitlyn Christiansen won second place, and Oakley Haight finished in third place.

The contest’s other top scorers were Lindsay Brinkman, Dinah Hassrick, Will Mellish, Sarah Swanberg and Jenny Zisette.

More than 150,000 students across the country are expected to participate this year.

The Poetry Out Loud National Finals will award a total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends, with a $20,000 college scholarship going to the national champion.