Wyoming Arts Council

Poetry Out Loud

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Lucy Martinez (pictured (right) with state auditor Cynthia Cloud), a student at Summit High School in Jackson, will be competing at the National Poetry Out Loud Competition, May 3-4 in Washington, DC. Martinez competed and won at the state level competition, held in Cheyenne in March. Eight students from high schools around Wyoming participated in the state competition. As state champion, she and a chaperone receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete at the National Finals.

Fifty-three state champions will face off, after advancing from a field of more than 317,000 competitors in every state; Washington, DC; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They will vie for the title of National Champion and a $20,000 prize. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be awarded to the top nine finalists and their schools.

Additional information is below for those interested in attending, watching, or following the National Finals competition.

WHO: Poetry Out Loud National Finals Host, Elizabeth Acevedo, award-winning poet. Guest judges include Alice Quinn, executive director of the Poetry Society of America; authors Jacqueline Woodson and Virgil Suárez; playwright and poetry slam champion José Antonio Vadi; and actor Chris Sarandon. The featured performer is hip-hop artist and multi-instrumentalist Christylez Bacon.

WHEN/WHERE:  Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals – Tuesday, May 3, 9:00 am 8:00 pm ET, Lisner Auditorium at The George Washington University, 730 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC.

  • 9:00 am – 12:00 pm – First Semifinal: students from East Central and Northeast States (in order: NY, RI, DE, CT, NH, ME, MA, PA, DC, SC, MD, NC, NJ, VT, WV, OH, USVI, VA)
  • 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Second Semifinal: students from Midwest and South Central states (in order: NE, AR, WI, MS, IN, PR, KY, GA, LA, TN, MO, MI, OK, IL, FL, AL, KS, IA)
  • 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Third Semifinal: students from Upper Northwest and Western states (in order: MN, CO, NM, MT, WA, NV, WY, ND, CA, UT, ID, OR, AK, TX, SD, HI, AZ)

Poetry Out Loud National Finals – Wednesday, May 4, 7:00 pm – 9:15 pm ET, Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University, 730 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC.

OTHER:  The Poetry Out Loud Semifinals and National Finals are free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required. Both events will offer ASL interpretation. For more information call 202-682-5606 or visit arts.gov.

WEBCAST: Watch the semifinals and finals through a closed captioned, one-time-only webcast at arts.gov.

PHOTOS/VIDEO: Photos and video of #POL16 Semifinals and Finals will be available at this link.

FOLLOW: Poetry Out Loud is on Twitter at @PoetryOutLoud and @NEAarts, #POL16.

 

What is Poetry Out Loud?

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have joined together to create Poetry Out Loud (POL), a program that encourages the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. Wyoming Poetry Out Loud is administered by the Wyoming Arts Council. POL serves every state and the U.S. Virgin Islands Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. More than 300,000 students participate annually, and that number continues to grow.   The inspiration for the competition is to promote the art of poetry in both the classroom and the community, and provides an entry point for many students to learn to love poetry and find poems that will stay with them for a lifetime.

POL is for high-school students (grades 9-12) at both public and private schools. Eighth graders enrolled in 9th-grade coursework are eligible to compete, at the discretion of the state POL coordinator. Homeschooled students must compete at some level of competition before the state finals. If you are a homeschooled student and would like more information about participating in a contest, please contact the POL coordinator at the bottom of this page.   POL begins in the classroom, with participating teachers using the POL teacher toolkit to teach poetry recitation and run classroom competitions. Following a pyramid structure, classroom winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to the state competition, and the state winner goes to the national finals.

NCTE Standards and Classroom Time

Poetry Out Loud satisfies more than half of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) English Language Arts Standards. In addition to memorizing and performing great poems, students will have opportunities to discuss poems and to write their own poetry. The program guide includes optional lesson plans, and other elements the teacher needs to implement POL easily into the classroom.   The schedule and curriculum for Poetry Out Loud allows the program to take place over two to three weeks, according to each teacher’s interest and schedule, and will not require full class periods during that time.   

Free Program Materials

These materials are sent upon receipt of the Intent to Participate form in this packet.

  • Program guide to help instructors teach recitation and performance
  • Hardcopy anthologies of approximately 100 poems
  • DVD of students performing at the national finals, and an audio CD featuring distinguished actors and writers
  • Media guides and promotional materials
  • An extensive online poetry anthology and a comprehensive website at www.poetryoutloud.org

Prizes

Each state-level final competition will award $1,000 in cash prizes. Each champion at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete for the national championship. The state winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The second-place finalist in each state will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library.

Poetry Out Loud will award a total of $50,000 in scholarship prizes and school stipends at the national finals, including $20,000 for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion, and $10,000 and $5,000 for the second- and third-place finalists. The remaining nine finalists each receive $1,000, and the schools of the top 12 finalists each will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books.

Contest Time Frame and Deadlines

  • Register to participate by December 18, 2015.
  • Hold your school contest and report winner by January 22, 2015.
  • Wyoming’s Poetry Out Loud State Competition is March 7-8, 2016 in Cheyenne, WY.
  • The National Finals take place May 2-4, 2016 in Washington, DC.

Statewide Contest Travel Information

Schools are asked to provide transportation (state car or school bus) for their winner and chaperone. Mileage is paid for those teachers/chaperones who must drive their own vehicle. Hotel rooms and some meals are provided in Cheyenne. Once a school has determined its champion, contact Rachel Clifton at 307-777-5305 or Rachel.Clifton@wyo.gov.

Read about Wyoming’s Poetry Out Loud winners

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