Poetry Out Loud regionals at Colony High

PALMER —Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest was at Colony High School Jan. 28, and the regional competition, unlike years prior where it was held in Anchorage, also will be held at Colony Feb. 4. The state competition will remain in Juneau, where it is televised, and national competitions are in Washington, D.C.

Requirements are the recitation of three memorized poems from the official website, poetryoutloud.org, or its print anthology. One poem must be 25 lines or less, one must have been written before the 20th century, and the last poem may be the contestant’s choice. The website has an abundance of poems for selection, along with helpful tips on reciting, performance etiquette, the official rules, state finals and national finals.

“The more challenging of poem that you memorize the higher the judges will score you,” said Kelly Thaler, an English teacher at CHS.

Rankings are based on an evaluation sheet each judge has to submit, and there is no changing a score after it’s been submitted. Scoring is also accumulative based on physical appearance, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and a loss of points for missed words or lines.

The maximum points are 47, earning up to six points in each category except overall performance, which scores up to nine points. If there should be a tie, the student with the higher overall performance score wins. If that also ensues in a tie, judges look to the highest accuracy score.

Winners of the state competition will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in nationals. The winner’s school also receives $500 for the sole purpose of purchasing poetry books. The runners up receive $100 and their schools win $200 for poetry books.

Poetry Out Loud awards $50,000 total in cash at the National Finals, with a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud national champion.

Autumn Hubbard is a sophomore at Colony High School.