The Marathon Center for the Performing Arts will host the Northwest Ohio Poetry Out Loud Regional Semifinal at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 14. Students from Toledo Early College and Millstream Career Center will compete in the event, which features two rounds of poetry recitation. One student will be selected to advance to the Ohio Poetry Out Loud Finals in Columbus on February 7, 2025. The event is free and open to the public.
Poetry Out Loud encourages students to explore poetry through memorization and recitation. The program helps students improve public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and gain insight into literary history and contemporary life. It was created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and is administered in partnership with State Arts Agencies across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Teachers, librarians, or administrators register high schools each year with the Ohio Arts Council and organize contests for individual classes, multiple classes, or entire schools. Contests, workshops, and multimedia program materials, including curricula, are provided free of charge. Poetry Out Loud aligns with Common Core and NCTE standards.
This marks the ninth year Marathon Center for the Performing Arts has been the Northwest Ohio Regional Partner for this program, which is sponsored by the Ohio Arts Council.
