Williamsport Area High School senior Oam Patel won the regional round in this year’s Poetry Out Loud competition.

Patel secured the first-place win on Jan. 29 by reciting “Charles Sumner” by Charlotte L. Forten Grimke, “Hysteria” by Dionisio D. Martinez and “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by D. Gilson.

Competing virtually this year, other contenders from around the region were from Bloomsburg Christian School, CHEF Co-op of Lycoming County, Jersey Shore Area High School, Sullivan County, Towanda Area Junior-Senior High School and Troy Area Junior-Senior High School.

Students submitted recorded recitations to be scored by a panel of judges, according to the Bradford County Regional Arts Council. Recitations were judged on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of preparation, overall performance, and accuracy.

Presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Northern Tier Partners for the Arts, Poetry Out Loud is a program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.