Boothbay Region High School junior Gretchen Elder came out on top in the Boothbay Region High School Poetry Out Loud competition. Her next step is the regional finals, held Feb. 25 at the Hampden Academy Performing Arts Center.

Elder recited "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" by Thomas Gray.

“The title is off putting,” Elder said. “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.”

At the northern regionals, 21 students will be competing. Each student will recite two poems in the first round, at which point the competitors will be cut to 10. Each semi-finalist will read a third poem, then five finalists from those 10 will be selected to go to states.

One student will win the state finals and go on to represent Maine at the National Finals in Washington, D.C. The winner will receive $50,000 in awards, and school stipends for the purchase of poetry books.

Elder will be reciting "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" along with “The Paradox” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Her third poem for the semi-final round will be “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop.

“I'm both nervous and excited to be going,” Elder said.

The northern regional is a free event to the public, and doors open at 2:30 p.m. with the event beginning at 3 p.m.