Hello, Michigan Humanities is excited to host the 2025 Poetry Out Loud<https://www.michiganhumanities.org/poetry-out-loud/> State Finals next Saturday, March 15, in Lansing. Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, encouraging them to learn about poetry through memorization and performance, build self-confidence, and grow their public speaking skills. The program and all materials are provided to each partner at no cost. Each year, participating partners host their own competitions and select a student to represent their school/organization at the state finals. This year, twenty-seven students from across Michigan will travel to Lansing to compete for the title of State Champion and move on to the National Semifinals and Finals taking place in Washington, D.C., May 5-7, 2025. If you are in the Lansing-area, we'd love for you to attend and get a chance to see the program in action and see if it might be a good opportunity for your library to participate in the future. Please find full event details here.<https://www.michiganhumanities.org/event/michigan-poetry-out-loud-state-finals-2/> I've attached a press release with more background on the program, full event details, and a list of competing student champions if you'd like to attend to support a student from your community. No RSVP is required. Please reach out if you have any questions. We hope to see you there! Best, Estee Estee Schlenner (she/her/hers) Communications Officer | eschlenner@mihumanities.org<mailto:eschlenner@mihumanities.org> | LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/estee-schlenner-b4645a187/> Connecting, Sharing, Growing [A blue and white badge with gold ribbon Description automatically generated] Michigan Humanities 2364 Woodlake Drive, Suite 100 Okemos, MI 48864 517-372-7770 ext. 665 Website<http://michiganhumanities.org> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MichiganHumanities> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/mihumanities/?hl=en> Mission: Bringing people together through stories, histories, cultures, and conversations.