Hawai'i SFCA and HTY Announce 2022 Hawai'i Poetry Out Loud Champion

Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and state coordinator, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, are pleased to announce that Tasha Kanoa is the 2022 Hawai'i Poetry Out Loud Champion. Tasha, 12th grade, represented Mid-Pacific School of the Arts in Honolulu and won over a competitive field of 11 students representing high schools on Kaua'i, Maui, O'ahu, and Hawai'i Island. Due to the on-going pandemic, the Hawai'i finals were held as a video submission contest in early March. The first runner-up was Alana Clayson, 10th grade from Punahou School. The third place winner was Tessa Chin, 11th grade from Maui Preparatory Academy.

"I was very surprised to find out that I'd won the State competition. I felt honored for the opportunity to represent my state in the National competition, but also intimidated at the same time" shared Tasha after winning. "Poetry Out Loud has been a topic in my family for years. After my older sister participated a few years ago, I felt driven to as well. Due to COVID, the competitive process was much different than previous years, but ultimately a very organized, eventful, and fun experience."

Guest judges for the Hawai'i contest were Maya Soetoro-Ng, Stephanie Conching, and Terence Liu. Judges evaluated student performances on criteria including physical presence, voice and articulation, accuracy, and evidence of understanding.

Tasha will compete in the Poetry Out Loud national semifinals which will be held virtually in May 2022. Students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa will provide video submissions for this semi-finals competition which will be broadcast on Sunday, May 1, 2022 at arts.gov. Hawai'i is part of Region 3 and will broadcast at 12 PM Hawai'i Standard Time.

The top nine students will move on to the finals competition which will be broadcast on Sunday, June 5 at arts.gov. The Poetry Out Loud national finals will present a total of $50,000 in awards and school/organization stipends, including a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion. The Poetry Foundation provides and administers all aspects of the monetary prizes awarded.

Poetry Out Loud starts in the classroom/school or at the local level with an area organization. Winners advance to a regional and/or state competition, and ultimately to the national finals. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation provide free, standards-based curriculum materials all available online which teachers may choose to use in their classrooms. Schools are welcome to download these resources at poetryoutloud.org. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.1 million students and 68,000 teachers from 17,000 schools across the country have participated in Poetry Out Loud.

To post a comment, you must register and login.

 

---

Join Team BroadwayWorld

Are you an avid theatergoer? We're looking for people like you to share your thoughts and insights with our readers. Team BroadwayWorld members get access to shows to review, conduct interviews with artists, and the opportunity to meet and network with fellow theatre lovers and arts workers.

Interested? Learn more here.

---