Poetry Out Loud 2020 -

Poetry Out Loud 2020

On Thursday, December 5 Harding held their 6th annual Poetry Out Loud competition. Jacob Altrock placed 1st, David Long placed 2nd, and Cole Galbreath placed 3rd. Jacob will represent Harding in the state competition March 13-14 at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.
The State Finals Champion will receive $1,000 and a trip to Washington, DC to participate in the National Finals on April 27-29, 2020. The State Champion’s school will also receive financial support to send the Champion’s teacher to attend the National Finals. First, Second, and Third Runners-Up at the State Finals also will receive prize money for their participation.

“Poetry Out Loud is a free program created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation for students in grades 9-12. Since 2005, the program has reached more than 3.6 million students and 55,000 teachers from 14,000 schools in every state, Washington, DC, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The program has helped students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage through classical and contemporary poetry.

Similar to the National Spelling Bee, Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest begins at the classroom level, as participating teachers use the free Poetry Out Loud toolkit to teach poetry recitations and run classroom competitions. The program does not require full class periods, and all teaching resources are aligned with NCTE ELA Standards, making it an excellent addition to existing curriculum.

Each school champion will go on to compete in the State Finals in Nashville, which includes an exciting weekend of activities and programs for the student and their educator. The winner of the State Finals receives $1,000, as well as a trip with their teacher to represent Tennessee in Washington, DC at the National Poetry Out Loud Finals. The winning student of the National Finals will receive $20,000 – an honor received by a Tennessee student in 2014!”

Click here for more information about Poetry Out Loud and the Tennessee Arts Commission.

At Harding all students from grades 7-12 memorize and recite one poem in classroom competitions. Those classroom winners from grades 9-12 then memorize another poem and compete against one another with two recitations. This year we had thirteen students from grades 9-12 judged the best of the best. They were Jacob Altrock, Jocelyn Bringht, Sophia Carpenter, Cole Dunham, Cole Galbreath, Cayden Hoff, Avery Holdeman, David Long, Betsy Kohn, Anela Meesomboon, Katie Riedel, Katie Savage, and Delaney Viner.