Poetry Out Loud 2022 Orange County Winner

Performer - Elora Sparnicht, Orange County School of the Arts
Piece: "Friendship After Love", by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Poetry in education has experienced a Renaissance through Poetry Out Loud. Students are given the opportunity to interact with the words of the masters through recitation, building a relationship with the works and creating a sense of shared ownership branded by their own technique of volume, pitch, pace, and personal point of view.

An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, administered statewide by the California Arts Council, and operated in Orange County as a partnership between Arts Orange County and Orange County Department of Education, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. Participants master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

www.artsoc.org/poetry