Welcome to Alabama's Poetry Out Loud 2022-2023
Contact your regional coordinator to register
Greetings, fellow educator!
I hope your school year is off to a good start.
Hello! First, allow me to introduce myself to you. My name is April Nunn. For 22 years I have been teaching public speaking and communication courses while working with colleagues in the Language & Literature as well as the Fine Arts faculty in the Humanities Division at Calhoun Community College. I am excited about Poetry Out Loud for our region and can’t wait to work with you and your students this year!
The former Region 5 Coordinator, Dr. Allen Berry, shared with me that you may want your students to participate in in Poetry Out Loud. This is going to be a phenomenal year.
Typically, we advise school coordinators to get started in the classroom ASAP.
You may have already begun your preparation.
This academic year, 2022-2023, participants do have more time to prepare.
First, please get acquainted with this year’s competition highlights, planning, and important dates. Next, please allow yourself and your potential participants time to get fully engaged with the competition’s content through poetryoutloud.org.
COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
I encourage you to collaborate with other teachers, such as English, theater, speech, or even social studies. As a matter of fact, if 5 or more classes participate in the program, your school will receive a $75 stipend. Your students can participate in the National Anthology Competition, Original Poetry Competition and/or the Social Justice Poetry Competition. (Please note that only the state champion in the National Anthology Competition gets to compete in Washington DC).
• To compete in the National Anthology Competition, the student recites 3 poems from the POL anthology (poetryoutloud.org): one needs to be pre-20th century and one needs to be 25lines or less. One poem can fulfill both criteria.
• To compete in the Original Poetry Competition the student writes, memorizes, and recites two original poems (any topic).
• To compete in the Social Justice Poem Competition the student writes, memorizes, and recites his/her own poem addressing any topic relevant to social justice and to the student personally. The Social Justice Poem may not duplicate an Original Poem entry.
Please note: We usually allow the winner and the runner up from each school to compete in the regional competition (i.e. up to 6 students); it depends on how many schools participate.
REGION 5 COMPETITION PLANNING
We’re excited to announce that we will have a dynamic Region 5 Workshop in person this year! Registration for the Region 5 Workshop is from October 1 – December 15 to allow us time to prepare for all participants.
Our Region 5 Workshop with Professional Poets prior to the Regional Competition held on January 20, 2023 at the beautiful ACA, Alabama Center for the Arts, in Downtown Decatur, AL. In conjunction with our region 5 committee, these poets are designing a student-centered set of performances and training sessions for potential participants. Our goal is to bring ENERGY, PASSION, and MOMENTUM to this competition! We want students to yearn to learn while witnessing for themselves how artists can captivate audiences with the power of their words.
Links to registration forms are included in the email:
1. for the January 20, 2023 Regional Workshop by October 1, due by December 15.
2.for the February 10, 2023 Regional Competition by November 1, due by January 23.
IMPORTANT DATES
2022
December 15 WORKSHOP REGISTRATION is DUE.
2023
January 20 REGION 5 WORKSHOP WITH PROFESSIONAL POETS
Alabama Center for the Arts, Recital Hall,
Downtown Decatur 2nd Ave. Decatur, AL 35601
January 23 REGIONAL COMPETITION Participants MUST BE REGISTERED.
üFebruary 10 REGIONAL COMPETITION (for Region 5) (FINALISTS’ NAMES WILL BE SENT TO THESTATE OFFICE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE COMPETITION.)
Alabama Center for the Arts, Recital Hall,
Downtown Decatur 2nd Ave. Decatur, AL 35601
üMarch 3, 2023, STATE COMPETITION
Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery
üMay 8-10, 2023, NATIONAL COMPETITION
Washington DC
RESOURCES:
State information about POL can be found on the State Council websiteat https://arts.alabama.gov/
Another resource is the POL Teacher'sGuide: https://files.constantcontact.
The Alabama Arts Alliance has a library of educational videos that can be used in the classroom: https://www.alartsalliance.
Overview
- We are back with our face-to-face in-person model, but students wanting to enter virtually may do so if their school is not participating. Registration and entries are facilitated by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
- Regional competitions are strongly encouraged to be held live, if possible.
- To increase accessibility, schools that wish to enter their school champions virtually to the regional competition may do so. Deadlines may be earlier for virtual entries to allow coordinators to process videos and ready them for live judging.
- State finals will be held live at Alabama Shakespeare Festival on Friday, March 3, 2023.
- Regional coordinators may allow school alternates (or 2 students per school per competition) to compete in the regional competition if they are able to handle the number of students involved. Regions with a lot of schools may not be able to handle more than one student.
- Regional Coordinators may identify five students for each competition to move forward to the State finals without the restriction of only one winner per school.
- Stayed tuned and contact your regional coordinator for more information about regional workshops that are being planned!
PHASE I: CLASSROOM COMPETITIONS (November - December 2022)
We hope you will consider joining Alabama’s Poetry Out Loud program, as a great way to engage students as they return to your classrooms.
National Poetry Out Loud Competition: At this level students choose one poem from the poetryoutloud.org website to memorize and recite for the rest of the class.
State Original Poetry Out Loud Competition: students write, memorize, and recite their own poem.
Social Justice Poem Competition: students write, memorize, and recite their own poem addressing any topic relevant to social justice and to the student personally. At this level the Social Justice Poem and the Original Poem may be the same poem.
Students may opt to participate in one, two, or all three competitions. Schools that have at least 5 classes involving every student participating are eligible to receive a $75.00 grant to support Poetry Out Loud activities. Each participating school will receive materials supplied by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Additional resources may be found at poetryoutloud.org. It is recommended that the student research the poet and/or topic and biographical information on the website. Class champions move forward to a school wide competition to identify a school champion for each of the three competitions. If only one class is participating, the class champion becomes the school champion.
PHASE II: SCHOOL COMPETITIONS (December 2022 - January 2023) and INDIVIDUAL COMPETITIONS
National Poetry Out Loud Competition: At the school level students choose two poems from poetryoutloud.org to memorize and recite for the school. Students should begin to consider the requirement for specific poems by the time they reach the regional level. One poem must be pre-20th century and one poem must be 25 lines or less. Whereas this is not required at the school level, it will be required at the regional level.
State Original Poetry Out Loud Competition: students write, memorize, and recite their own poem again. Students may revise and edit poems, but it is recommended they continue to use the poem that helped them get to this level.
The Social Justice Poem Competition: students write, memorize, and recite their own poem addressing any topic relevant to social justice and to the student personally. At this level the Social Justice Poem and the Original Poem should not be the same poem. School Champions move forward to the Regional Competitions.
Individual participating students will compete at this level by sending virtual entries to the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Guidelines for preparing and filming regional entries must be strictly followed to be eligible (See Guidelines for filming Alabama Poetry Out Loud recitations). Individual Champions will be notified and sent to a regional site for the regional competition. Individual students may not go straight to a regional competition without competing at this level.
PHASE III: REGIONAL COMPETITIONS (January - February 2023)
All students are encouraged to compete live for the Regional Competition. However, individual students and schools with an accessibility issue may send virtual recitations. Guidelines for preparing and filming regional entries must be strictly followed to be eligible (See Guidelines for filming Alabama Poetry Out Loud recitations). Regions with 10 or more schools participating may decide to accept only one champion per school. Regions with fewer schools may opt to accept a champion and an alternate from each school. Please check with your regional coordinator for rulings concerning how many students may compete regionally. All schools are encouraged to identify alternates in case a champion is unable to participate at the regional level.
National Poetry Out Loud Competition: At the regional level students choose three poems from poetryoutloud.org to memorize and recite for the school. Students must select one poem pre-20th century and one poem 25 lines are less. Both criteria may be met with one poem.
State Original Poetry Out Loud Competition: students write, memorize, and recite two original poems.
Social Justice Poem Competition: students write, memorize, and recite their own poem addressing any topic relevant to social justice and to the student personally. At this level the Social Justice Poem may not duplicate an Original Poem entry.
Five finalists for each competition move forward to the State Finals. Two alternates should be identified in case a finalist drops out.
Regional participant list must be uploaded to portal by Regional Coordinators by January 27, 2023 (this is the list of those students registered to participate - even if your competition has not happened by this date ensure that registration is completed before January 27).
PHASE IV: STATE FINALS (Friday, March 3, 2023)
We will hold our State Finals on Friday, March 3, at Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery. Any regional winner not able to participate live should contact the Alabama State Council on the Arts to request accommodations. The Original Poetry Competition, the Social Justice Poem Competition, and an Award Ceremony will be held in the morning, starting at 8:00 am. In the afternoon, starting at 2:00 pm, we will hold the National Poetry Out Loud Anthology Competition and award ceremony. The state champion from the National Poetry Out Loud Anthology Competition will compete in the National Finals in Washington, DC, May 8-10, 2023.
2022-2023 Calendar
Date | Event |
September - October 2022 | School/Organization/ |
November - December 2022 | Classroom activities and competitions |
December 2022 - January 2023 | School/organization competitions |
December 2022 - January 2023 | Regional workshops and competitions* |
January 27, 2023 | Deadline to report participation lists |
March 3, 2023 | State Finals |
May 8-10, 2023 | National Finals |
* results due to Alabama State Council on the Arts no later than February 10, 2023.
Filming Guidelines
· Read the guidelines for filming.
Resources
Here are some lesson plan videos of experienced Poetry Out Loud teachers with students who have made it to the State or National Finals.
Check out the Poetry Out Loud Judge's Guide for 2022-2023.
Use this directory to contact your regional coordinators.
Watch the 2021 Poetry Out Loud state finals awards ceremony on YouTube.
Download the free POL app! With this app, students can easily find, save, and practice poems for the competition on their phones or tablets.
Available for download:
Videos for the Classroom: Click here to view video workshops from the Alabama Arts Alliance on how to choose, interpret, read, and write a poem – and more!
About Poetry Out Loud
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 to high schools across the country.
Thank you so much for your interest and assistance.
Dr. April W. Nunn
Speech Instructor &
Regional (Region 5) Coordinator for Poetry Out Loud
Language & Literature Department
Humanities & Social Sciences Division
Calhoun Community College
