Some local high school students will be reciting poetry next week at a regional competition in St. Joseph.

The Poetry Out Loud competition was developed by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Allied Arts Council Operations Manager Cathy Ketter said the council has hosted the competition for 12 years.

“We’ve seen some students… it’s amazing what it does for their poise and their self-confidence to get up there and actually memorize and recite poems,” Ketter said. “We’ve had some competitors who have competed more than one year in a row and it’s been interesting and rewarding to see their progress from year to year as they learn from competition and learn also from observing other students who they are competing against.”

The competition will feature the winners of school competitions from Lafayette High School, Lathrop R-II, St. Joseph Christian School and from area homeschools. The students will be reciting three poems each.

The regional Poetry Out Loud competition takes place at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27th, at the Troester Media Center. The event is open to the public.

Winners of the regional competition advance to the Missouri State Championship on March 8th in Jefferson City.

Winners at the state level will advance to the national finals in May in Washington, DC, where the national champion will receive a $20,000 college scholarship.

For more information, visit poetryoutloud.org.