For the third year, students from across the country are convening in Washington, DC for the chance to win a $20,000 scholarship prize based on their superior ability - not to shoot hoops or hit home runs - but to recite poetry.
Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, a program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance, is the creation of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation. On April 28 and 29, 52 high school students from every state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will gather at George Washington University Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC, to match their skills. These students are among more than 150,000 students nationwide who took part in this year's contest at the classroom level, progressing through school and state contests en route to becoming their state's champion. Special guest judges at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals are attorney, author, and advocate Caroline Kennedy, radio personality and novelist Garrison Keillor, Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, Daily Poetry editor Don Selby, 2007 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Amanda Fernandez, and memoirist, activist, and poet Luis Rodriguez. Scott Simon of National Public Radio returns to serve as master of ceremonies.
Caila Booth, a Senior from Buffalo High School will represent Wyoming at this year's national competition. Mike Shay will travel to Washington to represent the Department of State Parks & Cultural Resources/Wyoming Arts Council at these events.
