2011 Poetry Out Loud Competition

Poetry Out Loud is a national competition that encourages high school students to memorize and perform great poems. 

The program builds on the rising interest in poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the popularity of rap music.  Students learn about great poetry while mastering public speaking skills and building self-confidence. 

Last year students from 33 Vermont high schools vied to represent the state in Washington, DC.

Registration is now open for the 2011 Poetry Out Loud program.  The application deadline is November 1, 2010 and the State Finals will take place on March 16, 2011.   Click here to register online.

Background

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is a national competition for high school students.  It builds on the recent resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as demonstrated by the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of rap music among our youth.

Participation begins at the classroom level around the country.  Teachers organize contests involving one class or a whole school with the winners advancing to the state finals, and ultimately to the National Finals in Washington, DC.  Contestants can choose poems from an extensive anthology of classical and contemporary poetry. 

The program, which began in 2005, is presented in Vermont by the Arts Council in partnership with the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education, the Vermont Department of Education, and the Vermont Humanities Council.

POETRY OUT LOUD IS A GREAT WAY TO TEACH POETRY!

Teachers from more than 40 Vermont high schools have taken part over the past five years.  Here's what makes the program so popular:

• it fits well into literature curriculum
• it creates an entry point for students to appreciate poetry
• it strengthens community in the classroom
• it reaches students that might not otherwise take to poetry or recitation
• it offers more than $100,000 in prizes to students and schools at the state and national level.

Resources

Participating teachers receive free multimedia curriculum materials – a poetry anthology, audio guide, teachers’ guide, posters, and the comprehensive Poetry Out Loud website, all aligned to national standards – allowing them to augment their regular poetry curriculum with poetry recitation and a classroom-level competition.

The Teacher’s Guide contains a scoring rubric and optional creative writing lesson plan. As the sponsoring Vermont Arts Agency, the Council also offers workshops for teachers to provide tips on bringing the program into their classrooms, and sponsors classroom visits by teaching artists.

Teachers, students, and poetry lovers everywhere can use the Poetry Out Loud website and its accompanying educational materials to organize their own recitation contests, but the official contest is limited to the programs run by each state's Arts Agency. The Poetry Out Loud website has the following areas you may find helpful:

Past Winners of Vermont's Poetry Out Loud Competition

2010: John Marshall, The Sharon Academy
2009: Audrey Kiely, People's Academy of Morrisville
2008: Caleb Smith-Hastings, Middlebury Union High School
2007: Henry Kiely, People's Academy of Morrisville
2006: Anna Svagzdys, Montpelier High School

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it take to become involved in Poetry Out Loud?

Poetry Out Loud is entering its sixth year in Vermont. During the first year, Poetry Out Loud was offered in Washington county as a pilot program. Since then, the program has been available to all schools throughout the state. Poetry Out Loud is administered by the Vermont Arts Council.  The Poetry Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council will provide all the necessary materials for sponsoring a Poetry Out Loud contest in your school.
 

What does Poetry Out Loud look like in a school?

An individual teacher, a group of teachers, the drama department or club, or an entire school decides to offer this opportunity to students. The way that teachers implement the program is up to them. Possibilities include:

A unit on poetry in English or drama classes (based on the poems in the Poetry Out Loud anthology), culminating in recitations by each student in front of the class, possibly using lesson plans that will be provided

The offering of extra credit to students who participate

An after-school opportunity for students who volunteer to participate

A school-wide celebration of poetry

What must result from whatever plan you follow, however, is that one winner from your school selected through a legitimately judged competition will participate at the state contest in March. Assistance is available for determining judging criteria.

Exactly what must the students who enter this program do?

Students should choose a poem to memorize and present. There are hundreds of poems from which to choose on the Poetry Out Loud Web site; approximately 100 of these poems will also be available in a paper anthology that will be provided to each teacher who participates.

It is strongly recommended that students who compete beyond the classroom level select poems of various style, time period, and voice. Diversity in the selections will offer a richer and more complete performance. At the state and national competitions, each student must recite at least one poem written before the 20th century. At least one of the three poems must also be 25 lines or shorter. Each judge should have a complete list of every competitor's selections in advance so they may familiarize themselves with the poems and develop a sense of diversity and range.

Each student must recite the poem without the use of props, costumes, amplification, or music. Gestures and some amount of movement may be appropriate and encouraged, depending on the poem. Style and interpretation are most definitely encouraged!

Each school must select one winner who will represent it at the state contest. It may be that classrooms select winners who then compete in a school-wide competition, or all participating classrooms may compete against one another; this process will be determined by the individual school, but guidance is available.
 

Can students choose poetry outside of the poems in the anthology?

No. The website includes an online anthology of more than 400 poems that will continue to expand. The students must choose from that selection, or from the hardcopy Poetry Out Loud Anthology distributed to schools participating in the official contests.
 

 Is there a creative writing element to Poetry Out Loud?

The central objective of the program is to familiarize students with the best of their literary heritage, while teaching them important public speaking skills. Poetry Out Loud is not intended to replace classroom activities like creative writing; in fact, the two naturally complement each other. For that reason, the POL Web site has a number of optional writing activities and lesson plans for teachers.
 

 What happens after the school chooses a winner?

Each school’s winning student will attend the state-level contest to be held on a date TBD.

The state winner will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC with a chaperone to compete for the national championship.

The state winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. A runner-up in each state will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library.

A total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends will be awarded at the National Finals for the winners, including a $20,000 college scholarship for the final national winner.
 

  What are the benefits and aids for participating teachers?

Program guide to help teach recitation and performance

Extensive online poetry anthology and a comprehensive web site

Audio CD featuring distinguished actors and writers reciting the poems

Drama and poetry guest artists available to conduct workshops to help your students

Standards information contained on the Web site

Far-reaching benefits for students—including enhanced public speaking skills—and for teachers, including an enriched literary and drama curriculum

2011 Participating Schools To Date (updated 08/25/10)

The following Vermont schools are confirmed for participation in the 2011 State Finals on March 16, 2011. 

Contact

Questions, concerns, and material requests should be emailed to: 

Stacy Raphael Vemont Arts Council, Education & Community Programs Manager, or (802) 828-3778.