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The Kentucky Arts Council has selected 21 high schools to participate in the state competition for the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. This is the seventh year of the program, which encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation.
The selected schools are:
| School |
City |
County |
|
| Allen Co./Scottsville High School |
Scottsville |
Allen |
| Ballard High School |
Louisville |
Jefferson |
| Beechwood High School |
Ft Mitchell |
Kenton |
| Boyd Co. High School |
Ashland |
Boyd |
| Carroll Co. High School |
Carrollton |
Carroll |
| Fairview High School |
Ashland |
Boyd |
| Franklin Co. High School |
Frankfort |
Franklin |
Gatton Academy of Mathematics and
Science in Kentucky |
Bowling Green |
Warren |
| Grant Co. High School |
Dry Ridge |
Grant |
| Greenwood High School |
Bowling Green |
Warren |
| Harlan Co. High School |
Baxter |
Harlan |
| Hart Co. High School |
Munfordville |
Hart |
| Hazard High School |
Hazard |
Perry |
| Heath High School |
West Paducah |
McCracken |
| Leslie Co. High School |
Hyden |
Leslie |
| Lone Oak High School |
Paducah |
McCracken |
| Mercer Co. High School |
Harrodsburg |
Mercer |
| Ohio Co. High School |
Hartford |
Ohio |
| Reidland High School |
Paducah |
McCracken |
| Russell Co. High School |
Russell Springs |
Russell |
| Western Hills High School |
Frankfort |
Franklin |
Poetry Out Loud begins at the classroom level. Winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to the state competition and ultimately to the national finals. Last year, more than 300,000 students participated in the Poetry Out Loud program in 50 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.
The winner of the Kentucky state finals, to be held in March 2012 in Frankfort, will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington, D.C., to compete for the national championship. The state winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The first runner-up will receive $100, with $200 going to his or her school library. The program culminates with the national finals in Washington, D.C., May 13–15, 2012. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be awarded at the national finals.
“We are very pleased to be able to continue this program. Our Kentucky champions have been finalists in the national competition in five of the six years of Poetry Out Loud,” said Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. “Maybe the 2012 national champion will be a student from one of these 21 Kentucky schools.”
For additional information about Poetry Out Loud in Kentucky, contact Rachel Allen at rachel.allen@ky.gov or 502-564-3757, ext. 486. For a general overview of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, go towww.poetryoutloud.org.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
