Boothbay Region High School junior Gretchen Elder came out on top in the Boothbay Region High School Poetry Out Loud competition, and moved on to the regional finals, which were held Feb. 25 at the Hampden Academy Performing Arts Center.

Twenty-one students competed, with only five moving onto the state finals. While Elder did not make the top five, she performed well.

“I'm proud of my performance; it's the best I've ever done,” Elder said.

Elder recited "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" by Thomas Gray along with “The Paradox” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Had she made it into the third round, she would have recited “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop.

“The title is off putting,” Elder said about the poem by Gray. “But it told a story with a meaning I could get. It was about avoiding temptation, and how not everything you think you want will make you happy.”

“Everyone was on their A-game,” Elder said about her competition. “I'm disappointed, but everyone was really good. Beforehand everyone had some free time to relax and prepare, and we all bonded over both winning our school competitions and over our love of the arts. It was a lot of fun.”

Elder says she does plan to try again next year.