Maeva Ordaz is the Alaska state Poetry Out Loud champion for the second year in a row. Now in its 10th year, the competition begins in classrooms, goes school-wide, statewide and eventually culminates in Washington, D.C., for the national championship. Ordaz says the competition is fulfilling its mission to expose youth to great literature.
Poetry Out Loud on 360 North
You can watch Ordaz and her colleagues in the Poetry Out Loud state finals on 360 North television at 8 p.m. tonight and again at 9 p.m. Saturday.
You can also watch at 360north.org.
“Poetry Out Loud has had a big impact on schools in terms of getting people, teenagers especially, more involved in learning poems, reading them, analyzing them, and I think the program has been very successful in doing that,” she says.
On Tuesday, Ordaz competed against nine other Alaskan high school students who had memorized poetry from an anthology of more than 800 poems. Ordaz says the competition is also fulfilling its other goal of engendering confidence.
“Standing up in front of an audience of 100, 200 people and reciting—that was something that I hadn’t done before, so that was an excellent experience for me and it’s given me that confidence to go out whether I’m doing a poetry recitation or a speech or I’m debating,” says Ordaz.
Ordaz will join state champions from around the country for nationals in Washington, D.C., in late April.
