The Hawbridge School in Saxapahaw named the winners of its Poetry Out Loud contest.

Sierra Bradshaw-Kreimer, a sophomore from Hillsborough, was named the overall winner after reciting “Monet Refuses the Operation” by Lisel Mueller and “Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand. Sierra won a national gold medal from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in 2012, and she will advance to the state Poetry Out Loud competition in March.

The grade-level winners were Marc Crespi, a junior from Chapel Hill, and seniors Moira Bailey from Elon and Dakotah Kimbrough from Hillsborough.

Students who competed in Poetry Out Loud recited two poems from memory and heard from keynote speaker Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina’s poet laureate.

Poetry Out Loud is a national contest that advocates learning about poetry and encourages public speaking skills.