Press releases [Mar. 15, 2006]

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 15 March 2006
For Additional Information Contact:

J. James Georgia Council for the Arts (404) 685-2784

Susan Hale Fulton County School System (404)763-6830

GEORGIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO GET LOUD
High School Students in Metro Atlanta Area Invited to Compete in National Poetry Recitation Contest
ATLANTA - The expression "youth should be seen and not heard" is about to go the way of the dinosaur. After dedicating long hours of practice perfecting their poetic license, students in the Atlanta metro area are prepared to participate in Poetry Out Loud, a poetry recitation contest that will net the national winner $20,000 in scholarship money.
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation are presenting Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest, in partnership with the Georgia Council for the Arts, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Fulton County School System. Poetry Out Loud is a recitation competition that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Students in capital regions throughout the country have been invited to participate in round-robin contests that will determine individual state winners. The fifty winners of the state finals will then compete in Washington, DC on May 16.
Poetry Out Loud seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry recitation and performance. The program builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of rap music among youth. The competition invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the classroom. Through the program, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.
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Poetry Out Loud/Page 2
Denise Jennings, coordinator of arts and drama for the Fulton County School System agrees. "Competitions like this are invaluable," she says. "This contest offers students the opportunity to make practical use of the skills they acquire in class. In addition to the possible outcome of winning enough money to go to the college of their choice, they also build confidence, increase self-esteem and participate in an educational endeavor that's also enjoyable."
Students in the Fulton County School System have reviewed and rehearsed, now they're ready to recite. Classroom poets will compete March 20 through the 29 to determine an overall school winner from the participating high schools. Those winners will then compete against each other in the state finals, which will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 14, in the studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

About the Partnering Organizations The Poetry Foundation is the publisher of Poetry Magazine. Founded in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. The publication's mission is to print the best poetry written today, in whatever style, genre or approach. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, bringing arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts. Georgia Council for the Arts is a state agency that provides support for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations throughout the state. Established in 1965 as the Georgia Commission on the Arts, its mission is to encourage excellence in the arts, support the arts' many forms of expression and make the arts available to all Georgians by providing funding, leadership, programming and other services. Funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts is provided by the Georgia General Assembly, the National Endowment for the Arts and other private and public sources.

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