In the classroom this month, students participated in activities designed to facilitate and enrich their classroom experience. Students in English classes participated in the Poetry Out Loud competition to encourage learning about poetry through memory and recitation.

According to the competition’s website, Poetry Out Loud has encompassed more than 3 million students across the nation since its founding in 2006. Participants come from high-schools across the nation.

The competition operates in a pyramid-like structure in which competition begins at a classroom level, winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to a regional competition and landing at the National Finals.

There are several monetary awards offered to winners of the competition. Each regional winner receives a $200 award and an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in the national competition. In addition the regional winner’s school will receive $500 to go towards the purchase of poetry books. Runner ups will receive $100 and an additional $200 for their schools. Annually up to $50,000 in awards are handed out at the National Finals.

Classroom competitions will run up until winter. From there, regional competitions run until mid-March with National Finals being held in Washington, D.C. from April 23 to 25.