The annual national high school poetry recitation contest Poetry Out Loud is about to celebrate its eighth year in Plumas County. The 2024 competition is set for Sunday, Jan. 28, at Plumas Arts Gallery in Quincy at 11 a.m.
This week, Poetry Out Loud county coordinator Margaret Elysia Garcia reports that she has been busy making classroom visits around the county, making as many students as possible aware of the upcoming competition.
All Plumas County high school students in grades nine through 12 are eligible to participate in the contest by reciting a poem from memory; the poems to choose from are available on the Poetry Out Loud website at http://www.poetryoutloud.org. Garcia reports that each year the number of participants has risen steadily. So far, Quincy Junior-Senior High School, Chester Junior-Senior High School, Plumas Charter School’s Indian Valley Academy, Portola Junior-Senior High School and Long Valley Charter School have all indicated they will send students for the 2024 contest. Homeschooled and privately schooled students are also eligible to compete.
Students from Quincy High have won first place four out of the last five years; students from Indian Valley Academy and Portola High have each won first place one year.
Students will face a panel of three local judges who will critique how well they memorized the poem, as well as how well they understood the poem and could convey its meaning. The first-place winner takes home $500 and becomes the county champion, who then memorizes two more poems to represent the county in the statewide competition in March. The second-place winner takes home $300, and the third-place winner takes home $200. The contest culminates in a national competition in Washington, D.C., during National Poetry Month in April.
“The mission of the competition is to expose students to a wider variety of poets and poetry in the hopes that those students will value and come to appreciate having poetry in their lives,” said Garcia. “It also builds public speaking skills and introspection.” Common Core standards for English align with the program and lesson plans are available on the Poetry Out Loud website to be used in the classroom. Coaching is available throughout the month of January by Zoom for students who are thinking of competing at the end of the month.
Garcia recommends that students and teachers interested in the contest check out examples of students performing on YouTube (search for Poetry Out Loud). Recitation tips and this year’s teachers’ guide are available on the website. Poems must be chosen from the Poetry Out Loud website
in order to be eligible for the competition.
Teachers, school administrators and homeschoolers interested in participating can contact Garcia at [email protected] or (714) 746-4093.
This annual competition is presented by Plumas Arts in partnership with the California Arts Council, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Information submitted by Poetry Out Loud Plumas County