Monday, February 11 at 1:00 pm (Beaverton Main Campus)
Register online here by February 6
Open to high school students (grades 9th – 12th only)
REGISTER HERE (Please note, you must have your poem selections to register.)
“Poetry is everywhere these days, from the sides of buses to song lyrics to the Instagram app on your phone. In fact, for the first time in 15 years, poetry reading is on the rise in the United States. The National Endowment for the Arts captures this excitement and entices students to fall in love with poetry through our national recitation contest, Poetry Out Loud. This free program from the National Endowment for the Arts encourages high school students to learn about classic and contemporary poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Through recitation, students create deep connections with poems and discover new meanings, all while developing important public speaking skills and gaining confidence. Since 2005, more than 3.6 million students and 55,000 teachers from 14,000 schools nationwide have taken part in this program.” — Mary Ann Carter, National Endowment for the Arts
Competition Information: Contestants memorize and recite three poems for a panel of judges and the audience. All poems must be selected from the Poetry Out Loud print or online anthology. Only versions of poems from the official anthology may be used in the contest. Information about how to recite a poem is available here.
To register for the VH competition, student must have 3 poems selected, and must be prepared to perform 2 for the VH competition. One selection must be 25 lines or fewer, and one must be written before the 21st century. The same poem may be used to meet both criteria, and may be the student’s third poem. Poem selections must be turned in by February 12, with the two you are planning to perform in February indicated (the winners of our competition have to be ready to perform all three for the regional/state level) so that the judges have time to familiarize themselves with your selections. Contestants will be evaluated by a panel of judges.
The winner of the Village Home competition advances to the Regionals in March. At the state and national finals, students must perform all 3 of their poetry selections. Winners advance to a regional and/or state competition, and ultimately to the National Finals. Each state level winner receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington to compete for the national championship. More information about Poetry Outloud here.
Register for the competition here.