The annual Poetry Out Loud recitation competition, a national contest that begins at the local level, will be accepting registrations from Alaska schools through Oct. 16.
Poetry Out Loud offers teachers a standards-based program to help students discover a range of poets from William Shakespeare to Rita Dove. Participating teachers receive free materials including a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, and video and audio on the art of recitation.
Students choose from among 900+ poems in the official Poetry Out Loud anthology, then memorize them for recitation. Students advance from classroom contests, to school-wide contests, onto regional and state finals.
By being part of the official program, students have the chance to win an all-expense-paid trip to the National Finals in Washington, D.C. in May 2016. In total, Poetry Out Loud will award more than $100,000 to state-and national-level winners and their schools.
To hear about the program from the 2015 Alaska and National Poetry Out Loud Champion, Maeva Ordaz, in a video she produced with the Alaska Teen Media Institute, visit https://vimeo.com/138813527.
The Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Program is facilitated by the Alaska State Council on the Arts in partnership with the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council. To learn more about the program, and register by Oct. 16, visit http://www.jahc.org/poetry-out-loud. Poetry Out Loud is available to any 9th- to 12th-grade student in Alaska, and program coordinators can provide guidance on how to get involved. Contact Poetry Out Loud coordinator Sara Radke Brown at pol@jahc.org or at 907-586-5099 with questions or for registration assistance.
