Poetry and performance project brings out the best in students across Nevada

Finding ordinary magic just became a little easier for Amanda Aldridge, who teaches high school English in the agricultural community of Yerington, 80 miles outside of Reno. Thanks to money awarded through the Nevada Poetry Out Loud Program, a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, Aldridge added $500 in her budget for resources to help students overcome fears and experience the magic of poetry.

“I spent my summer reading poetry books,” Aldridge said. Her homework assignment came thanks to former student Ralston Thorlief Pedersen, who placed third in the 2013 Nevada Poetry Out Loud State Finals and was awarded $500 for himself and $500 for his school.

Registration to participate in the 2014 Nevada Poetry Out Loud is open through Dec. 1. High school teachers and students are invited to get involved in the dynamic program that is structured similarly to the National Spelling Bee, but focuses on literary heritage through memorization and performance of classic and contemporary works. Registration is open to all Nevada public, private, charter, parochial and alternative schools and home school associations.

“Using the money awarded for poetry books and materials is just the best outcome we could imagine,” said Maryjane Dorofachuk, arts learning coordinator for the Nevada Arts Council.

“We have 342 students. For a small school, $500 is a huge amount of money,” Aldridge said. In her classes, students begin quite early analyzing and researching poems they may want to recite in the spring competition. The new materials help them experience poetry as a warm up and make practice fun. Students get the chance to live poetically and find beauty in the world, Aldridge said. Poetry Out Loud supports their efforts. Among the books Aldridge purchased is “Poemcrazy” by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge, described as a teaching guide into the craft of expressing what someone feels through the written word.

Poetry Out Loud is a program of the Nevada Arts Council, presented in partnership with Sierra Arts, Nevada Department of Education, National Endowment for the Arts, The Poetry Foundation, and 2014’s major sponsor, NV Energy.

Poetry Out Loud begins at the local level as students learn about, memorize and finally present out loud poetry from the website, www.poetryoutloud.org. Participants advance from school to district competitions and then to the Nevada State Finals, where the stakes are high. The Poetry Out Loud State Champion receives $1,000 and $1,000 for his or her school to support literary programs and travels to Washington, D.C. to compete for $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals. Those who place second and third at the Nevada State Finals receive $500 each and $500 for their schools.

In 2013, more than 2,600 students, teachers and coaches participated in Nevada’s Poetry Out Loud, representing 13 of Nevada’s 16 counties with high schools. Last year’s state champion Graciela Maya-Joseph, of Owyhee High School in Elko County, represented Nevada at the national finals.

Starting at the classroom level, teachers are provided with free multimedia curriculum materials – a Learning Recitation audio guide, a teachers’ guide, posters and comprehensive website, http://www.poetryoutloud.org --all aligned to national standards – to augment their regular poetry curriculum with poetry recitation and a school-level competition. The student winner and a chaperone from each participating school district receive support to attend the state finals March 15 in Reno.

Teachers are invited to find out more about 2014 Nevada Poetry Out Loud and to register to participate by Dec. 1 at the Nevada Arts Council’s website, nac.nevadaculture.org or contact Maryjane Dorofachuk at (702) 486-3738 or mdorofachuk@NevadaCulture.org.

The Nevada Arts Council, a division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, is the agency charged with ensuring that state and national funds support cultural activity and encourage participation in the arts throughout Nevada. In addition to providing hundreds of grants to arts and community-based organizations, schools, artists and local municipalities throughout the state, the Arts Council coordinates a variety of statewide programs and activities such as the annual Poetry Out Loud recitation competition for high-school aged students, traveling exhibits, artist residencies, workshops and cultural assessments. For more information, visit the department’s website at nac.nevadaculture.org/.