Arts Education
Poetry Out Loud celebrates 21 years
Poetry Out Loud RI 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 throughout the country. In Rhode Island, starting in the fall, high schools hold competitions to select a school champion, who will compete at the state level usually in March. In the spring, the state champion competes with other state champions in Washington, D.C.
Registration is currently open for the 2025/2026 school year. In recognition of America’s 250th anniversary, the 2025-26 Poetry Out Loud program will focus on poems that celebrate the rich tapestry of American history, and arts and culture of the past.
The deadline for high schools to sign up is Monday, Nov. 17. If you are a teacher and want to sign up your school, complete and submit this form: Downloadable pdf of the registration form for 2025/26 school year.
For more information about Poetry Out Loud, contact, Seamus Hames.
Poetry Out Loud R.I. Champions
2025: Emmanuel Obisanya, a senior at Classical High School, won with his stand-out recitation of the following poems: Dirge Without Music, Edna St. Vincent Millay; I am the People, the Mob, Carl Sandburg; and Revenge, Letitia Elizabeth Landon.
2024: Jennifer Shon, a junior at the Portsmouth Abbey School, was named R.I. champion with her winning recitation of Say Grace by Emily Jungmin Yoon. Shon, who is from Seoul, Korea, came in third in the 2025 competition. During the national competition in Washington, D.C., in 2024 she came in first during a companion competition called Poetry Ourselves for her spoken word rendition of her original poem, My Hanbando.
2023: Natasha Connolly, a junior at Classical High School and a 2023 Youth Poet Ambassador. won a companion competition to Poetry Out Loud, during the national competition., for her written original poem, Birdfolk at the End of the World.