Deaf Student Wins State Competition

A deaf student won this year's Poetry Out Loud competition for the entire state of Iowa. Dakota Meyer is a junior at Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs. He took the title at the State Historical Museum of Iowa in Des Moines with his performance of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's A Psalm of Life and Edwin Arlington Robinson's Miniver Cheevy and Richard Cory. The effort earned $200 for Meyer and $500 for his school. Next month, Meyer heads to D.C to represent Iowa in the Poetry Out Loud National Finals. The contest will hand out $50,000 in awards and school stipends. Meyer is only the second deaf student to compete in the national contest. The first came from Oregon four years ago.