What Is POL?
“With all the talk in our common core standards for ‘deeper understanding’ as the progressive skill, this activity [POL] is invaluable.”
Poetry Out Loud (POL) is a national poetry recitation program for students in grades 9-12, or the age/grade equivalent. Traditionally designed for public, charter, parochial school and home school teachers, POL recently announced opportunities for parents, community leaders, organizations, and other interested facilitators to engage with the program. In addition to high school participants, other grades are welcome to register and run the program at the school level, but do not qualify for the contest.
National Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Poetry Foundation, and the state arts agencies of the United States.
In New Jersey, POL is a project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in collaboration with Count Basie Center for the Arts. Regional partners include the Grunin Center for the Arts at Ocean County College, Mayo Performing Arts Center, Passaic County Community College, Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, and South Orange Performing Arts Center.
Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.
Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown to reach more than 3 million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 schools in every state, Washington DC, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
The national POL website offers a full breakdown of the competition process:
The website also includes resources for teachers and poems for students. Click here for more.