Executive Message
 About the Contest

 Names
 Poems
 Schools

 Names
 Poems
 Schools

 Partners
 Sponsors

Poetry Out Loud

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation present Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council, the Thurber House and Ohioana Library Association. Poetry Out Loud is a program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition. Schools in the central Ohio region have been selected to participate in this program of classroom and school-wide contests, advancing to state competitions.

Twelve high schools from central Ohio were selected to take part in the 2006 event. Participating schools included: in Columbus, Arts & College Preparatory Academy, Beechcroft High School, Bishop Hartley High School, Columbus Alternative High School, Columbus Africentric Secondary School, Eastmoor Academy and Whetstone High School; Fairbanks High School, Milford Center; Granville High School, Granville; Mt. Gilead High School, Mt. Gilead; Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington; and Westland High School, Galloway.

The NEA and the Poetry Foundation each contributed $500,000 towards the 2006 Poetry Out Loud program in support of materials, grants, prizes and the National Finals. Ohio received approximately $8,000 from this budget, with matching funds provided by the Ohio Arts Council.

Ohio high school student, Jackson Hille won the inaugural National Finals on May 16, 2006.

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, has embarked on an ambitious plan to bring the best poetry before the largest possible audience. In 2006, the Foundation has launched a major new poetry Web site and sponsored an unprecedented study to understand poetry’s place in American culture. Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. Harriet Monroe’s “Open Door” policy, set forth in Volume I of the magazine, remains the most succinct statement of Poetry’s mission: to print the best poetry written today, in whatever style, genre or approach.