Huntington to Host 12th Poetry Out Loud Semi-Final This March

The Huntington Theatre Company's Department of Education celebrates the 12th anniversary of the national Poetry Out Loud contest, having facilitated the competition in Massachusetts since its inception in 2006.

This year, 76 high school students from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will participate in four regional semi-final contests March 4 and March 5. Semi-final contests will be held in Boston, Framingham, Springfield, and on Cape Cod. All upcoming contests are free and open to the public.

With support from the Huntington Theatre Company's Department of Education more than 23,000 students from 87 high schools across Massachusetts participated in Poetry Out Loud, including classroom and school-wide contests. A complete list of the schools that integrated Poetry Out Loud into their curriculum this year can be found at the end of this release.

Each of the students participating in the upcoming semi-final contests were recently named their school's champion. Twenty-five of the semi-finalists will advance to the state final competition on Sunday, March 12 at 9:30am at Boston's Old South Meeting House.

The Huntington's Education Department facilitates the Massachusetts state-wide contests with support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The program is facilitated nationally by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

Semi-Final Contest Information:

Boston: Saturday, March 4, 9:30am

Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

527 Tremont Street, Boston 02116

Framingham: Saturday, March 4, 10am

Framingham Temple Association

404 Concord Street, Framingham 01702

Springfield: Sunday, March 5, 10am

Community Music School of Springfield

127 State Street, Springfield 01103

Cape Cod: Sunday, March 5, 1pm

Cultural Center of Cape Cod

307 Old Main Street, South Yarmouth 02664

2017 Participating High Schools:

Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School, Hyde Park

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton

Agawam High School, Agawam

Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough

Amherst Regional High School, Amherst

Assabet Valley Collaborative High School, Marlborough

Avon Middle High School, Avon

Barnstable High School, Hyannis

Billerica Memorial High School, Billerica

Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro

Boston College High School, Boston

Boston Latin School, Boston

British International School of Boston, Boston

Brookline High School, Boston

Burlington High School, Burlington

CATS Academy Boston, Braintree

Claremont Academy, Worcester

Codman Academy Charter Public School, Dorchester

Community Academy of Science and Health, Dorchester

Cotting School, Lexington

Dana Hall School, Wellesley

Dartmouth High School, Dartmouth

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, South Yarmouth

Dexter Southfield School, Brookline

Dracut High School, Dracut

Duxbury High School, Duxbury

East Boston High School, East Boston

Everett High School, Everett

Foxborough Regional High School, Foxboro

Framingham High School, Framingham

Franklin High School, Franklin

Groton-Dunstable Regional High School, Groton

Hanover High School, Hanover

Haverhill High School, Haverhill

Hingham High School, Hingham

Hull High School, Hull

International School of Boston, Cambridge

Ipswich High School, Ipswich

Leominster High School, Leominster

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury

Longmeadow High School, Longmeadow

Lunenburg High School, Lunenburg

Malden High School, Malden

Mansfield High School, Mansfield

Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs

Masconomet Regional High School, Boxford

Match Charter Public School, Boston

Melrose High School, Melrose

Meridian Academy, Jamaica Plain

Methuen High School, Methuen

Milton Academy, Milton

Minnechaug Regional High School, Wilbraham

Montrose School, Medfield

Monument Mountain Regional High School, Great Barrington

Mt. Everett Regional High School, Sheffield

Nantucket High School, Nantucket

Needham High School, Needham

Newburyport High School, Newburyport

Norwell High School, Norwell

Old Rochester Regional High School, Mattapoisett

Oliver Ames High School, North Easton

Pelham Academy, Lexington

Pembroke High School, Pembroke

Pentucket Regional High School, West Newbury

Pittsfield High School, Pittsfield

Plymouth North High School, Plymouth

Plymouth South High School, Plymouth

Presentation of Mary Academy, Methuen

Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School, Orange

Randolph High School, Randolph

Revere High School, Revere

Rockland High School, Rockland

Salem Academy Charter School, Salem

Saugus High School, Saugus

Sharon High School, Sharon

Sizer School, Fitchburg

South Hadley High School, South Hadley

Springfield Central High School, Springfield

Springfield Renaissance School, Springfield

Sturgis Charter Public School East, Hyannis

Swampscott High School, Swampscott

Tabor Academy, Marion

Westfield High School, Westfield

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, Whitman

Wilbraham and Monson Academy, Wilbraham

Willow Hill School, Sudbury

Quincy Catholic Academy, Quincy (Middle School, School-Level Participation only)

Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation contest that celebrates the power of the spoken word and a mastery of public speaking skills while cultivating self-confidence and an appreciation of students' literary heritage as they take poetry from the page to the stage. Poetry Out Loud has inspired hundreds of thousands of high school students to discover and appreciate both classic and contemporary poetry.

The Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC April from 24-26 to compete in the national finals.

Semi-Final judges include: Michael Ansara (Founder of MassPoetry), Cookie Gamble (YMCA of Greater Boston Youth Director), John Bonnani (Editor of Cape Cod Review), and Massachusetts poets Heather Hughes, Deirdre Callanan, and Jarita Davis.

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Recitation and performance are major trends in poetry. There has been a recent resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of hip-hop music. Poetry Out Loud builds on that momentum by inviting the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theatre into the English class. The NEA and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with state arts agencies to support the expansion of Poetry Out Loud, which encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. The Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Huntington sponsor the Massachusetts contest; the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation sponsor the competition on the national level. Learn more about Poetry Out Loud at huntingtontheatre.org/pol.

Celebrating its 35th season, the Huntington Theatre Company is Boston's leading professional theatre and one of the region's premier cultural assets since its founding in 1982. Recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the Huntington brings together superb local and national talent and produces a mix of groundbreaking new works and classics made current to create award-winning productions. The Huntington runs nationally renowned programs in education and new play development and serves the local theatre community through its operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Huntington has long been an anchor cultural institution of Huntington Avenue, the Avenue of the Arts, and will remain so on a permanent basis with plans to convert our current theatre into a first-rate, modern venue with expanded services to audiences, artists, and the community. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council is a state agency that promotes excellence, access, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences, in order to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities. The MCC is committed to building a central place for arts and culture in the everyday lives of communities across the Commonwealth. The Council pursues this mission through a combination of grants, services, and advocacy for cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists.