Poetry Out Loud
Perpetuating our nation's legacy
Enhancing Public Speaking Skills
Building self-confidence
Presented by:
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, in partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Huntington Theatre Company.
POETRY OUT LOUD encourages students in grades 9-12 to memorize and perform real poems and to explore the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken work, and theatre in their English and Drama classes.
Congratulations to Courtney Stewart on being named the 2013 Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts State Champion!
Courtney is a freshman from Springfield Central High School, and will travel to Washington DC at the end of April to compete in the National Finals. Visit the blog for a full recape of the 2013 Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts State Finals.
Sabrina Accime (Top 6, left) and Micayla Rivin (2nd Runner Up, right) look on as Courtney Stewart (center) reacts to being named the 2013 Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud Champion. Photo credit: David Marshall.
POETRY OUT LOUD: How it works
- Classroom competition: each student recites a poem from the Poetry Out Loud Anthology
- School-Wide Competition: classroom winners each recite 2 poems
- State Semi-Finals: for school-wide winners — March 2 and 3, 2013
- State Finals: for semi-final winners — March 10, 2013 (Old South Meeting House, Boston MA)
- National Competition: The MA State Champion will advance to the Nationals, held in Washington, D.C. (all expenses paid!) April 29-30, 2013.
- Prizes: cash prizes are awarded to winners and their schools at the state and national level.
For more information about the Massachusetts competition, please contact Donna Glick, Director of Education, at 617 273 1548 or email poetryoutloud@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.
2013 Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts State Finalists
- 2013 Massachusetts State Champion: Courtney Stewart (Springfield Central High School)
- 1st Runner Up: Stephanie Igharosa (Randolph High School)
- 2nd Runner Up: Micayla Rivin (Westfield High School)
2012 Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts State Finalists
- 2012 Massachusetts State Champion: Stephanie Igharosa (Randolph High School)
- 1st Runner Up: Rebekah Dowdell (Springfield Central High School)
- 2nd Runner Up: Noelani Gabriel (Springfield High School of Science and Technology)
2011-2012 Rankings for Massachusetts
We are pleased to announce that Massachusetts has once again been ranked nationally both for total number of students participating, as well as total number of schools involved in Poetry Out Loud. With 53 States and Properties competing, this is an accomplishment we are very proud of. Congratulations to all of our teachers and students who came on the journey with us this season!
Total Number of Students: Ranked 3rd behind California and Washington State.
Total Number of Schools: Ranked 4th behind California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Overall Statistics 2010-2011
- Total participating students: 365,855
- Total participating schools: 2,255
- Total participating teachers: 5,020
Top Five Programs by Number of Participating Students:
- California: 41,172
- Florida: 23,791
- Washington: 20,304
- Massachusetts: 18,788
- New York: 17,941
All National Statistics Provided by the National Endowment for the Arts
Our 2012 Massachusetts State Finalists for Poetry Out Loud
Photo credit: David Marshall