At Monday evening's NEA-sponsored, Santa Barbara County "Poetry Out Loud" finals, Dos Pueblos's Kelly Nakashima (9) was named Santa Barbara champion for her reading of Dean Young's "Elegy on Toy Piano," and Sarah Friedland won second place for her reading of William Mathews' "Mingus at the Showplace!" Competing against 24 other county finalists from local high schools, including Santa Barbara High School and Laguna Blanca, the students are judged by professional poets on such criteria as "evidence of understanding," "physical presence," "voice and articulation," "level of difficulty," and "dramatic interpretation."

As the SB County champion, Kelly will go on to the California state championships to be held on March 15th in Sacramento. If she win's California, Kelly will go on to the national championships in Washington D.C. where she will compete for a $20,000 scholarship.

They will be showing a replay of the SB competition on Channel 20 sometime in the near future. Other DP students who participated include: Quinn Sosna-Spear, Philip Bildner, Samantha Rhine, Cole Peterson, Emma Steinkellner, and Kierstin Brown.