SOPAC to Host Poetry Out Loud Regional Competition, 2/11

For the second year in a row, South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) has been selected by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to host the New Jersey Region 5 preliminary rounds of competition of the Poetry Out Loud program on Wednesday, February 11 at 10am. Now in its tenth year of national competition, Poetry Out Loud, presented in partnership with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Contestants recite works they selected from an anthology of more than 800 classic and contemporary poems. The program gives students an opportunity to master public speaking skills, build self?confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

This year in Region 5 (Essex and Union counties) alone, 130 teachers and more than 4500 students from 30 high schools participated in the Poetry Out Loud school program. Two winners from the regional competitions will advance to the NJ State finals on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 10am at Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University as part of the Princeton Poetry Festival. Each winner at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to compete in the National Finals, and the state winner's school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. The New Jersey State Champion will advance to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on April 28?29, 2015 in Washington, DC, at the Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University in Washington, DC where $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be distributed.

Region 5 School Champions include:

Michael Zambrano, The Barack Obama Green Charter High School

Joseph Murante, Belleville High School

Donovon France, Bloomfield High School

Aliyah Salomon, Columbia High School

Dayamaris Urena, Essex County Vocational, North 13th Street

Lauryn Harris-Campbell, Hillside High School

Beatrice Dimaculangan, Jonathan Dayton High School

Christina Qiu, Livingston High School

Okasha Yousuf, Madrasatu Ahlus Sunnah

Karrem Merrill, Marion Bolden Student Center / Westside

Jessica Roy, Montclair High School

Asia Acevedo, Mother Seton Regional High School

Betsy Zaubler, Newark Academy

Sarahnia Casseus, Orange High School

Arianna Diaz, Plainfield Academy of Arts and Advanced Studies

Wayne Wong, Summit High School

Georglana Balisage, Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy

Amber McCleese, West Orange High School

The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Director of Community Engagement, Linda Beard at (973) 382-1035.

SOPAC programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.