POL—Have You Signed Up?
From Dani Brown, Arts Education Special Projects Coordinator —
While we’re still three months out of the January 22 deadline for registering your school to participate in the Tennessee State Poetry Out Loud (POL) recitation contest, it’s no surprise that time moves quickly. I encourage you to sign up now and start planning your local competition.
A few things to be aware of as you participate in POL
- Poems that qualify for the competition must come from the provided anthology. Each year poems are retired from the list and new ones are added. Click here to download the list of added and removed poems.
- The NEA hosted their annual judges webinar on September 30. In case you missed it, or would like to review the session for tips, click here.
- Check out the POL YouTube channel for new footage of recitations from the 2015 National Finals. These are great to use with students in the classroom, as well as for judges to practice scoring.
- Join the conversation and excitement on social media by using #POL16 and #iampoetryoutloud.
New this year: In addition to reciting published poems by other poets, the NEA has added a new aspect to the event called Poetry Ourselves. This will give each of the state champions the opportunity to submit an original poem. The poem will be judged separately from their recitations in the national finals, and will function as a distinct competition for poetry writing. More information to come.
Remember, there are lots of resources available to you for assistance in setting up and conducting your competition. Also, please contact me, Dani Brown, via email or by phone at 615.532.5934 if you have any questions.
