Unalaska, AK – Thirty-one high school students participated in the Poetry Out Loud competition Tuesday night. Each student memorized and recited a poem with the hopes of winning $100 and going on to the regional competition. Freshman Jennifer Ruiz took first place by reciting the poem "For the Young who Want To" by Marge Pearson.

She said she practiced the poem many times but forgot all of the words the first time she read it in front of a crowd. She's not been on stage much before. "Like with school things, but really really small parts. It's kind of like a miracle!"

Ruiz says she didn't expect to win. "I was nervous the whole time and I thought my legs were just gonna fall, but I did good. I guess I did better than expected, so I'm proud of myself."

Competition co-coordinator and English teacher Shawna Rudio said the program started in 2005 and this is the second time they've run it in Unalaska. The number of participants nearly doubled this year.

"I think it's paid off quite a bit. They can see now the importance of being able to speak. Not just writing but speaking and communicating and how important it is to be able to articulate their message. And I think this really helps in that way."

A tape of Ruiz's performance will be submitted to the regional competition. Freshman Abbygale Jensen took second place after a heated debate between the judges, who wanted to submit both Jensen's and Ruiz's entries to regionals. Ryan Haskin's animated recitation took third.

You can listen to Ruiz's recitation through the link above.