How to register for entry by October 22 poetry out loud contest performance?
They’re at it again. Teenagers from all over Washington state will declaim, recite, spout and vent this Saturday at the University of Puget Sound. Teenage angst? No, the state finals of the annual Poetry Out Loud contest. Poetry Out Loud is an NEA-cosponsored competition encouraging students around the country to read more poetry. Around 225,000 kids competed this year, including six Pierce County high schools. Of the thousands from Washington, 12 finalists will get up onstage at Schneebeck Hall and recite selections from classic and contemporary poems. The winner will receive $200, with an extra $500 for his/her school to buy poetry books, and go on to the national finals in Washington, D.C. on April 26-29 to compete for $50,000 in prize money and scholarships. The two local state finalists this year are Olivia Seward of Stadium High School, and Amanda Welch from Puyallup High School. Seward, 16, is a former State winner (2007), and traveled to Washington, D.C. last April in that capa
Students from 11 D.C. schools came together Monday evening, vying to represent the District in April in the national finals of the Poetry Out Loud competition. At the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Northwest, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee introduced the students and the featured guests, who included Melissa Princess Best, a spoken-word artist known as the Princess of Controversy; the Artivist; and Anwan “Big G” Glover from the HBO series “The Wire.” Poetry Out Loud, which blends the oral tradition of poetry with theater, encourages public speaking skills and memorization. High school students present poems in a combination of recitation and performance. Participating schools include the Poetry Out Loud curriculum in their English curriculum. The winner Monday evening was Wesley Mann, a senior at St. Anselm’s Abbey School. The runner-up was Jordan Seace, a senior at Duke Ellington School of Arts. Other schools whose students participated in the state finals Monday were: SEED Publi
