1st place – Elijah Markson, Enterprise High School
2nd place – Brandie Newsome, Enterprise High School
3rd place, ex aequo – Grace Dawson, Enterprise High School & Aria Del Rosairo-Sabet, Shasta High School
Poetry Out Loud inspires in high school students the confidence to make themselves heard, using one of the most powerful tools at their disposal—art.
Poetry in education has experienced a Renaissance through Poetry Out Loud. Students are given the opportunity to interact with the words of the masters through recitation, building a relationship with the works and creating a sense of shared ownership branded by their own technique of volume, pitch, pace, and personal point of view.
California proudly holds court as home to the largest Poetry Out Loud competition in the country, growing steadily since its start in 2005.
This competition is in direct association with Poetry Out Loud and further details may be found at https://www.poetryoutloud.org.
Shasta County finals will be held on Friday, February 4 at Old City Hall at 6pm. Event MC is Blake Fisher. Live music by Jacob Akana.
Any further inquiries may be sent to your Shasta County Poetry Out Loud Coordinator at shastapoetry@gmail.com.
The structure of Poetry Out Loud is similar to a spelling bee. This annual program starts in the fall, with high school teachers using the free Poetry Out Loud teacher toolkit and related materials to teach poetry recitation and run classroom competitions. Classroom winners advance to a schoolwide competition; school champions compete at the district or county level by mid-February. County winners are then treated to an unforgettable two days at the California Poetry Out Loud State Finals in Sacramento, and a chance to compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C.
The California state champion receives:
$200 cash prize and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
$500 for their school to purchase literary materials
An opportunity to compete at the National Finals for college scholarship funds
Visit poetryoutloud.org for detailed information and to check out POL action across the country.
DELALI BRUCE
First Place
Santa Clara County
EDEN GETAHUN
Runner Up
Sacramento County
ARJUN ‘RJ’ MEDHEKAR
Third Place
Santa Cruz County
