Poetry Out Loud encourages the study of great poetry through a dynamic recitation competition for high school students.
During the 2021-2022 season, 2,148 students and 133 teachers and librarians at 30 Idaho schools and libraries participated in Poetry Out Loud.
21 Idaho teens who won the Poetry Out Loud contest in their school or library competed in the Idaho State Semifinal, and the top 12 students advanced to the Idaho State Final.
Ameerah Bader, Semifinal Judge
Ameerah Bader is a Palestinian-Tlingit poet and artist located in North Idaho. They have been writing poems for eleven years and drawing for ten. They have been published a handful of times and nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice. In 2019 they graduated with two BFAs in printmaking and illustration from Boise State University. Their favorite pastimes are long walks, talks, and drawing all day. ameerahbader.com
CMarie Fuhrman, Final Judge
CMarie Fuhrman is the author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems and co-editor of Native Voices: Indigenous Poetry, Craft, and Conversations. She has published or forthcoming poetry and nonfiction in multiple journals and several anthologies. CMarie is a regular columnist for the Inlander, Translations Editor for Broadsided Press, and Nonfiction Editor of High Desert Journal. She is the Director of the Elk River Writers Workshop and Director of Poetry at Western Colorado University, where she teaches Nature Writing. CMarie is 2021-2023 Idaho Writer in Residence. CMarieFuhrman.com
Monique N. Michel, Semifinal Judge
My name is Monique N. Michel. I’m a Junior High Spanish teacher at Foothills School of Arts and Sciences, and the owner and Director of my dance company, the Ballet Folklorico Mexico Lindo. I’m Mom to 2 fabulous adults and dog mom to Pirate, the best German Shepherd that ever was.
Stacy Boe Miller, Final Judge
Stacy Boe Miller is a poet and nonfiction writer living in northern Idaho. Her work can be found in several journals, and her manuscript Answer with Hunger was a finalist for the Blue Lynx prize for poetry. She serves on the board of High Desert Journal and is the current Poet Laureate of Moscow.
Adrian San Miguel, Final Judge
Adrian San Miguel is the Director of Program Services for the Idaho Division of Career Technical Education in downtown Boise. Originally from Texas, he received degrees in vocal performance from Baylor University. Adrian teaches music courses on jazz, popular, and global music at CWI and has performed with Opera Idaho, Critical Mass Vocal Arts, and St. Michael’s Cathedral in downtown Boise.
Andrew Stensaas, Semifinal Judge
Andrew Stensaas, born in Mason City, Iowa, is the Creative Director and Co-Founder of LED. He is a songwriter, composer, producer and musician. He has been in two critically acclaimed bands: Portland’s Sons of Sirens and Boise’s Edmond Dantes. In 2014, Edmond Dantes wrote the soundtrack for the film Almosting It, directed by Will Von Tagen. In January 2015, he founded LED with his wife and choreographer Lauren Edson and has continued to be at the forefront of artistic innovation locally and nationally, bringing Boise into a global arts conversation. He is the father to two beautiful boys, Finn and Liam.
Annie Brownlee, Finalist
American Heritage Charter School | Phyllis Aycock
Scale by Helen Mort
My Therapist Wants to Know about My Relationship to Work by Tianna Clark
Annie Brownlee is a Junior at American Heritage Charter School in Idaho Falls who hopes to pursue a career in Emergency Care Nursing. After school, she can often be found at leadership meetings for student government and her school's version of the National Honor Society.
Odessa Hunt, Finalist
Capital High School | Bret Bishop
Ode 1. 11 by Horace, translated by Burton Raffel
Not Horses by Natalie Shapero
Odessa Hunt is a sophomore that is still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up. She loves playing her cello in her school's chamber orchestra and in the Boise Philharmonic Youth Symphony. She also enjoys camping, backpacking, and hiking.
Seth Hill, Finalist
Classical Christian Academy | Jenna Bailey
To have without holding by Marge Piercy
A Hymn to God the Father by John Donne
Seth Hill is a senior at Classical Christian Academy. He will be pursuing a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design at Grand Canyon University in the fall. Seth loves photography, music, singing and drawing.
Jodie Knudsen, Finalist
Eagle High School | Tracy Harrison
A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman
the world is about to end and my grandparents are in love by Kara Jackson
Jodie Knudsen is a senior at Eagle High School. Jodie has a passion for the performing arts and theater. She will be attending Northwest Nazarene University in the Fall with the hopes of studying Nursing.
Mckenna Rawlinson, Semifinalist
Fruitland High School | Kevin Wickersham
Whenever you see a tree by Padma Venkatraman
The Spring by Thomas Carew
Mckenna Rawlinson is a freshman at Fruitland High School. She enjoys playing soccer, basketball, tennis, trumpet and piano. She loves to spend time with her family playing games, hunting, fishing, backpacking, and skiing. She tries her best in school and always tries to have a positive attitude.
Makayla Moffet, Finalist
Hope Christian Academy | Kristine Howe
I look at the world by Langston Hughes
When You Are Old by William Butler Yeats
Makayla Moffet is a senior with dreams of pursuing a career as a pediatric nurse. She plans on going to college at Boise State University or Northwest Nazarene University. She is currently studying AP English and redesigning the counseling office for her Senior Project at Hope Christian Academy. Makayla enjoys playing basketball and writing her own music.
Lily Walsh, Semifinalist
Idaho Virtual Academy | Misty Dietz
Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson
The Pilgrim by John Bunyan
Lily Walsh is a senior with a purpose of serving God through her love of writing Christian teen fiction as a hobby. She is a published writer with Unlocked. She dreams of becoming a missionary doctor in South America. She loves spending time with family, and reading a good book!
Alexis Lucas, Semifinalist
Idaho Arts Charter School | Jillian Singh
About Standing (In Kinship) by Kimberly Blaeser
The animals in that country by Margaret Atwood
Alexis Lucas is a sophomore who aspires to be a high school English teacher. She loves reading, writing, and school.
Milania Akers, Finalist
IDLA | Amanda Swanson
Dream of the Phone Booth by Emilia Philips
In the Desert by Stephen Crane
Milania Akers is a sophomore at Inspire Connections Academy. In her spare time, she enjoys eating chocolate croissants, learning Russian, singing to Broadway musicals, and aspires to be be just like Edna Mode when she grows up.
April Church, Finalist
McCall-Donnelly High School | Tod McManus
My partner wants me to write them a poem about Sheryl Crow by Kayleb Rae Candrilli
Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation by Natalie Diaz
April Church is a senior with aspirations of teaching biology later in life. She spends her free time with her adored cat, Biscuit, and loves to bake french bread.
Morgan Apt, Semifinalist
Moscow High School | Todd Bailey
"The Art Room by Shara McCallum
'Un Tintero,' Inkwell by Desirée Alvarez
Morgan Apt, a Moscow native, lives with her family enjoying her role as big sister to siblings Catherine and Preston. She is a cross-country runner and a third-generation weaver. She appreciates the companionship of friends and the family’s cockatiels, Penny and Opal, and their dog named Greta from Guadalajara, Mexico.
Alejandro Vazquez, Semifinalist
Mountain Home High School | Taunya Page
All This and More by Mary Karr
Dirge Without Music by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Alejandro Vazquez is a sophomore at Mountain Home High School with dreams of becoming an Artist one day. they love drawing and painting, loves theater, and writing.
Karalie Potter, Semifinalist
North Idaho STEM Charter Academy | Betsy Sims
Invictus by William Ernest Henley
'Hope' is the thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson
Karalie Potter is a sophomore who enjoys acting and reading books and poetry. She hopes to become a mother one day and travel Europe.
Camila Juarez Roman, Finalist
Sage International School | Melissa Cortes
In a Dark Time by Theodore Roethke
The Light of Stars by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Camila 'Cami' Juarez Roman is a freshman at Sage International School of Boise. She enjoys reading books, often about history, poetry, and fiction. She can also almost always be found learning and broadening her horizons.
Rachel Green, Finalist
Sugar-Salem High School | Nancy Robinson
A Poison Tree by William Blake
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe
Rachel Green is a senior at Sugar-Salem High School. She loves performing and has been a part of her school’s drama department all four years of high school. She also loves to read and write, and one day hopes to become a published author.
Priya Merchant, Finalist
Sun Valley Community School | Jeannie Woller
Born Like the Pines by James Ephraim McGirt
Sonnet 84: While one sere leaf, that parting Autumn yields by Anna Seward
Priya Merchant has been doing Poetry Out Loud for four years. She loves theater, hiking, and cooking, and will be attending Vassar College in the fall of 2022.
Emily Bohman, Finalist
Taylor's Crossing Public Charter School | Sherry Newell
The Bearer by Hayden Carruth
The Bad Old Days by Kenneth Rexroth
Emily Bohman is a Junior in high school who enjoys reading, learning, acting, and poetry. They have a talent and a passion for learning languages and traveling. They believe that stories have the most value in the world and are intent on hearing as much of them as possible.
Zoe Zufelt, Semifinalist
Tech Trep Academy | Kalli Collins
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Up-Hill by Christina Rossetti
Zoe Zufelt loves to read, write, ski, pound out frustrations on the piano, and learn German. She also has a love-hate relationship with weightlifting. Zoe enjoys Shakespeare and being crazy with her sister and friends.
Kaylee Cox, Semifinalist
Twin Falls Public Library | CJ Rasmusson
Ah! Why, Because the Dazzling Sun by By Emily Brontë
Light Shining Out of Darkness by William Cowper
Kaylee is a sophomore who lives in the magic valley, she enjoys acting, signing, as well as auditioning for plays and has been casted for over a half dozen shows. Kaylee is a studious student who excels at being part of National Honor Society, and doing community service, she competes in rodeo in several events and plays school sports. Being involved in Bible studies and serving in soup kitchens gives her great pleasure.
Hannah Westermann, Finalist
Xavier Charter School | Amanda Loosli
In Praise of My Bed by Meredith Holmes
After working sixty hours again for what reason by Bob Hicok
Hannah Westermann is a senior at Xavier Charter School. She enjoys both writing and reading and has a knack for art.
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation partner with state arts agencies, including the Idaho Commission on the Arts, to support Poetry Out Loud.
