Araceli Acho

“Poetry Out Loud really does change your life. It really does have that power. For me, it changed my identity, made me see myself differently and realize, I’m smart, I’m intelligent, I can do this,” said Janae Claxton, 2018 Poetry Out Loud National Champion who was awarded $20,000 in first place against 300,000 students competitors around the world.

Poetry Out Loud is a program created in 2006 by the National Endowment for the Arts under Chairman Dana Gioia and The Poetry Foundation where students learn about poetry through memorization and recitation.

Poetry Out Loud starts at the community or classroom level. Winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to a regional and/or state competition, and lastly to the National Finals. Awards and positions are determined solely by the judges’ scores based on the Poetry Out Loud Evaluation Criteria.

Students must choose various numbers of poems and perform. All contestants are evaluated on physical presence, voice and articulation, evidence of understanding, dramatic appropriateness, accuracy, and overall performance.

A National Recitation Competition involving students in all 50 states, Washington D.C., The U.S Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. T.C. Williams volunteered to become part of the competition.

French Teacher Bridget Tomich is the lead teacher for students participating and getting the word out about this program. “We have so much talent in this school, I think they absolutely have a shot at winning recognition for their talent and everybody should have a chance to with $20,000, it’s such a great opportunity” said Tomich.

Thursday, December 6 will be the first school-wide competition, involving T.C Williams.

To participate and sign up, email [email protected]. The first practice competition will be held on Thursday, November 1, for more details contact Tomich.