Students compete for National Poetry Recitation Contest
Thousands of students across the country are bringing poetry to life by competing in this year's Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest.
This is the contest's fifth year, and it is growing rapidly, influencing thousands of high school students to learn and perform poetry.
Kristin Margolis, the California state contact from the California Arts Council, said that "there is an incredible demand for the program, with 300,000 participants nationwide this year."
"California has the most competing in the nation," Margolis said. "We will have 40,000 students from 27 counties, which is a big jump from the 24 counties that competed last year and 20 counties the year before that."
The program itself was founded to inspire high school students to read poetry and learn, not just from today's poets, but from many poets before the 20th century.
"It is really important to encourage students to pick the poem and find something that has meaning for them," Margolis said.
The National Recitation Contest begins in the classroom, where students memorize poems and compete within their schools through their ability to remember, connect and perform their chosen poems.
Winners from each school continue on to compete in county contests and then state and national finals, where a single winner is chosen.
Margolis explained that it is such a great program because it can start by a parent, student or teacher hearing about it and deciding to get an entire school involved. There are no boundaries to who can participate because,