Contra Costa County’s 2025 Poetry Out Loud Program open for registration
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Nov. 16, 2024) — Educators are invited to register their students to participate in the 2025 Contra Costa County Poetry Out Loud program. This prestigious program is a partnership between the California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, ARTSCCC, the Poetry Foundation, and Contra Costa County Office of Education.
“I encourage schools and students throughout our county to participate in this wonderful program,” Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey said. “Your school’s involvement helps scholars develop confidence, public speaking skills, and nurtures creative writing. Engaging with poetry allows young people to appreciate the power of language and share their unique perspectives.”
The Poetry Out Loud program as a whole is a free national arts education initiative and poetry recitation competition designed for high school students. The journey begins in the classroom, where students receive support from a dedicated Poetry Out Loud coordinator and a poetry instructor. This guidance helps students refine their presentation and delivery skills, as well as deepen their understanding of poems and their meanings. Throughout the process, students are provided with continuous support to ensure they are well-prepared for each stage of the competition.
Important Dates for 2025
- October 2024 – January 2025: School Program
- January 9, 2025: School Registration Deadline
- January 31, 2025: School Competition Deadline
- February 8, 2025: Contra Costa County Competition
- March 16 & 17, 2025: State Competition (Sacramento)
- May 5-7, 2025: National Competition (Washington D.C.)
For more information, please visit the Contra Costa County Office of Education’s Poetry Out Loud webpage. Educators, please share this opportunity with your colleagues and students to help spread the word about this enriching program.
A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies, Poetry Out Loud™ is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country.
The program starts in the classroom/school or at the local level with an area organization. Winners then may advance to a regional and/or state competition, and to the national finals. Awards and placements are determined solely by the judges’ scores based on the Poetry Out Loud Evaluation Criteria, including physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and accuracy. Poetry Out Loud takes place in all 50 states, American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.1 million students (about twice the population of New Mexico) and 68,000 teachers from 17,000 schools and organizations across the nation have participated in Poetry Out Loud. California’s Poetry Out Loud is the largest event of its kind in the U.S. and has grown steadily since its inception.
For more information about Poetry Out Loud, and the national 2025 program, visit PoetryOutLoud.org.