Five students from Upper Valley high schools will compete in the Vermont semifinals of the national Poetry Out Loud competition next week in Barre.

With 10 berths at stake for the state recitation finals on March 16, which will be shown on Vermont public television, Oxbow High School’s Eliza Goodell and The Sharon Academy’s Taite Clark will compete for the second year in a row. Joining them at the semifinals at the Barre Opera House on March 8 will be Thetford Academy’s Clare Swanson, Woodstock Union High School’s Linea Kay and Neil Brooks, of Bethel’s Whitcomb High School.

The winner of the Vermont title will qualify for the national championship recitation in Washington, D.C. in April.

Reading Is Fundamental

Westshire Elementary School in West Fairlee is seeking donations of “gently-used” books aimed at students ages 12 and younger, for its annual We Love to Read Celebration this week.

Donors are encouraged to deliver books to the school today and Wednesday. The school’s students will be allowed to take home between two and three books apiece as part of the week’s reading activities. To learn more, visit west-shire.blogspot.com.

Scholarship-Shape

Julianne Borger, of Lebanon, recently received a $10,000 scholarship from the Timken Company. Borger, a senior at Lebanon High School, will study science at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. The scholarship is one of 17, totaling almost $550,000, that the manufacturer of bearings and mechanical power transmission products awarded to daughters and sons of Timken employees worldwide. Borger is the daughter of the Lebanon facility’s project manager John Borger.

The Sharon Academy is offering scholarships of up to $10,000 each to students entering grades 7 and 8 at the private school starting in the fall of 2017.

The deadline to submit applications for scholarships is April 14. To learn more about enrolling at the academy, and to learn more about the scholarship program, call Amber Wylie at 802-763-2500, extension 220, or email awylie@sharonacademy.net.

The academy so far has raised more than $1 million for its inaugural disbursements to students in need, under the Pat Woodin Scholarship, which memorializes the late Pat Woodin, the school’s first director of Internet technology and the mother of three TSA alumni.

The Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission is inviting high school seniors from the valleys of the Ottaquechee and White rivers to apply for college scholarships of $1,000 each.

May 20 is the deadline to submit applications for the scholarships, aimed at students pursuing careers in fields related to land stewardship and preservation of natural resources. To learn more, or to receive an application, call Dee Gish at 802-457-3188 or email dgish@trorc.org.

Collegiate Recognition

Grace Stott, of Lebanon, made the grade for the dean’s list at the University of New Hampshire, for her academic performance during the fall 2016 semester. Stott, who is majoring in nutrition, earned highest honors for maintaining a grade-point average of at least 3.85 out of a possible 4.0.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison named Lebanon resident John Cioffredi to its dean’s list for the fall semester in 2016. Cioffredi, a freshman, is majoring in education and competes in the high jump for the Badgers’ track-and-field team.

 Meriden resident Owen R. Winslow earned a spot on the dean’s list at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, for his academic performance during the fall 2016 semester. A graduate of Kimball Union Academy, Winslow is a junior majoring in English. He maintained a grade-point average of at least 3.7 out of a possible 4.0.

Ian Mundy, of Lyme, earned a spot on the College of Wooster’s dean’s list, for maintaining a grade-point average of at least 3.65 out of a possible 4.0 during the fall 2017 semester. Mundy, a sophomore, is a graduate of Thetford Academy.

David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304. Education news and announcements also can be sent to schoolnotes@vnews.com.