For the eighth year running, Madison High School students will be participating in the National Recitation Contest, Poetry Out Loud. Since 2006, Madison High School English students have memorized poems from an archive of hundreds of poets and presented them to a panel of judges in MHS’s own auditorium in hopes of proceeding to the Regional Contest.
Poetry Out Loud has been a national competition since the autumn of 2005, when the first competitors presented their poems at the school level. The contest consists of the memorization of 2-3 poems from the archive provided on http://www.poetryoutloud.org and the presentation to a panel of judges. Winners of the school contest proceed to their regional contest, then to states. 53 state champions attend the National Competition in Washington DC every May. Eligible students are enrolled in grades 9-12 at a school registered with its state Poetry Out Loud coordinator. One Madison High School student advances to the regional contest every January, but only a few, including Rachel Alvey (graduated 2012), have advanced to states.
Though there are hundreds of poems to choose from, presenters are evaluated on a set of performance aspects including presence, voice and articulation, level of complexity, and evidence of understanding. More information about judging criteria can be found on the Poetry Out Loud website (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/competition/judge-preparation).
Madison High School’s contest will be held on January 10th, 2014 during Block 3 (Period 4). Rehearsals are scheduled for December 10th, 16th, and January 7th. Contact Mrs. Bergen for more information on how to prepare for the contest.