Gorge Guide

For the seventh year, Hood River Valley High School is delighted to be part of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Students first must win their classroom contest; then learn another poem for the school contest.

Poems can be chosen from hundreds of poems on the Poetry Out Loud website.

This year's featured poems range from “Fishing on the Susquehanna in July” By Billy Collins to “I Am the People, the Mob,” By Carl Sandburg.

The winner of the school contest will attend the regional contest in Portland on March 11. The top three winners from the regional contest will compete at the state level on March 31. Having a regional contest allows more students, state-wide, to have the experience of memorizing and reciting great poetry.

The winner of the state competition will travel to Washington DC in April - National Poetry Month - to compete with winners from all over the United States and its territories.