Poetry Out Loud 2026
Erin Levinson is our Poetry Out Loud 2026 champion!
Poetry Out Loud El Dorado County Finals: Erin Levinson First Place, Alivia Chen Second Place, Eden Ellis Third Place, and Madeleine Reiman Fourth Place. Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. In El Dorado County, the competition is administered by Arts and Culture El Dorado in partnership with the California Arts Council. A vehicle for inspiration and instruction, Poetry Out Loud provides students with a variety of resources to help them memorize, interpret, and recite poetry, instilling in students not just an appreciation of poetry, but also a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their public speaking abilities.
The 2026 El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud Finals took place on Thursday, February 5 at Imagination Theater. The students' recitations were judged by a panel of respected community members:
- Moira Magneson (Judge) - El Dorado County 2025-2027 Poet Laureate
- Amy Pooley (Judge) - Executive Director, El Dorado Community Foundation
- Lara Gularte (Judge) - writer, poet, and El Dorado county Poet Laureate Emerita
- Tiffany Van Camp (Judge) - Co-Founder See the Elephant
- Gavin Sellers-Norman (Tabulator) – Actor, visual artist, and educator
- Erin Butler (Accuracy Judge)- Artistic Director Imagination Theater
- Brian Chapman (Prompter) – arts and community advocate
Poetry Out Loud has a profound impact on the students who choose to participate. Beyond their exposure to a rich literary heritage, collected in the Poetry Out Loud anthology from which they select their poems, the students also get the opportunity to engage with poetry outside of the classroom, which situates the poems in a fresh, vibrant context. The act of recitation recasts poetry as an embodied art form rather than an abstract object of contemplation, igniting a lifelong passion for poetry in some students.
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Amber Baker, Alivia Chen, Erin Levinson, and Kaitlin Fuller. P2025 Poetry Out Loud El Dorado County Finals: Erin Levinson First Place, Amber Baker Second Place, Alivia Chen Third Place, and Kaitlin Fuller Fourth Place. Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. In El Dorado County, the competition is administered…
Read MorePoetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. In El Dorado County, the competition is administered by Arts and Culture El Dorado in partnership with the California Arts Council. A vehicle for inspiration and instruction, Poetry Out Loud provides students with a variety of resources to help them memorize,…
Read More2023 Poetry Out Loud El Dorado County Finals First Place Alison LeeOak Ridge High School Second Place Summer Smith Charter University Prep Third Place Gabrielle GarlickUnion Mine High School Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. In El Dorado County, the competition is administered by Arts and Culture El Dorado…
Read More2022 El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud First Place Kelsi Havercroft Union Mine High School Second Place Emily Lieber Oak Ridge High School Third Place Molly Grant Charter University Prep Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. In El Dorado County, the competition is administered by Arts and Culture…
Read MoreEl Dorado County’s county-wide Poetry Out Loud Final Competition was held Monday, February 1, 2021. Sponsored by the California Arts Council, Poetry Out Loud (or POL) is a nationwide poetry recitation competition, inviting High School Students throughout the nation to memorize, interpret, and recite acclaimed poems. Preparing a recitation allows students an intimate and thorough…
Read MoreOn February 6, 2020, the El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud championships were held at Imagination Theater. The tension was palpable and the excitement absorbing as five local high school students took the stage to compete for the privilege of advancing to the state Poetry Out Loud Finals in Sacramento. The evening began with a…
Read MoreOn Wednesday, February 6, 2019, five High School Poetry Out Loud Champions took to the stage at Imagination Theater to compete for the title of El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud Champion. The evening was filled with memorable recitations of poems from classic and contemporary poets. From William Shakespeare to Maya Angelou, T.S. Elliot to…
Read MoreOn Friday, February 9, 2018, six El Dorado County high school students converged on the Imagination Theater stage to compete for the title of El Dorado County Poetry Out Loud Champion. In the end, only one would move on to the State Finals in March to compete for the title of California State Champion. The house…
Read MoreEl Dorado County Champion, Zoey Eddy from Oak Ridge High School Eddy went on to compete in the State Finals in SacramentoMarch 13 and 14, 2017. L-R: Third Place, Alessandra Jester from Charter University Prep; First Place, Zoey Eddy from Oak Ridge High School; Second Place, Anna Salvestrin from Union Mine High School. L-R: Olivia…
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