The 2019 San Bernardino County finals for Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest will be held on February 2nd, from 2-5pm at the Garcia Center for the Arts in San Bernardino. The competition is presented by Arts Connection, the Arts Council of San Bernardino County, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and the California Arts Council.
Poetry Out Loud encourages students to explore poetry by offering free educational materials, opportunities to work with local poets, and a dynamic recitation competition. The contest uses a pyramid structure; beginning at the classroom level, winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to county, state, and ultimately national finals in Washington, DC.
This year’s county contest includes competitors from Big Bear High School, The Grove School, PAL Academy, and W.A. Carter High School. Contestants will recite works they have selected from an anthology of more than 900 classic and contemporary poems. Participants in the program have benefited from materials created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, which are free to download at poetryoutloud.org.
The winner of the county finals and their parent or guardian will be flown to Sacramento to participate in the state finals on March 10th through 11th. The state champion will receive an all-expense-paid trip (with an adult chaperone) to compete in the national finals in Washington, DC, on April 30th through May 1st. The Poetry Out Loud national finals will present a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends, with a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion.