Last year’s Yuba County winners (l-r) Devon Giardini, Jayden Giacomo, and Salma Antonia Alfaqeeh. Photo courtesy of YSAC

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - One of Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture’s longstanding, marquis arts in education programs is Poetry Out Loud. If you are unfamiliar with it, Poetry Out Loud is a poetry recitation event for high school students. Labeled a “Pizza and Poetry Party,” all participating students receive gift cards, and pizza, and winners receive cash prizes.

Last year’s event marked the return to an in-person event following a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. This year’s competition will take place on Saturday, February 3rd. Yuba County students will compete starting at 11 a.m. and Sutter County students will start at 2 p.m. This is a free event open to the public.

Students will have selected poems from the Poetry Out Loud online anthology of nearly 1,000 poems. They recite the poem from memory and are judged based on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, accuracy, level of complexity, evidence of understanding, and overall performance. Last year’s Sutter County winner was Ainsley Nelson, Sutter Union High School, and the Yuba County winner was Salma Antonia Alfaqeeh, Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts.  

Last year’s Sutter County winners (l-r) Jocelyn Chan, Charlotte Ramey, and Ainsley Nelson. Photo courtesy of YSAC

Poetry Out Loud is a national program that encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. It helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.  Founded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Out Loud has grown over the years to include more than 3 million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 schools in every state, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture has been hosting the local event for sixteen years.

The two county winners will go on to compete in the California Poetry Out Loud state finals on March 17-18 in Sacramento.  At the state level, one winner will be selected to represent California in the national competition in Washington, D.C. in May.  For additional information about this and other Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture programs and events, call 530-742-ARTS or write to [email protected].

Image courtesy of YSAC