San Mateo County’s Poetry Out Loud 2026
“No matter who you are, where you come from, or what your story is, there is some poem out there you can connect with.”
Poetry Out Loud (POL) gives high school students the confidence to make themselves heard, using one of the most powerful tools at their disposal—poetry. It encourages teens to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.
We invite educators, youth organization leaders, and high school students to be part of San Mateo County’s Poetry Out Loud 2026 Program. Teens build public speaking skills and self-confidence, while learning about literary history and contemporary life through poetry.
To make the process fun and easy for teachers and youth leaders who want to include POL in their curriculum or programming, digital resources are available:
Although the program is meant to have competitions by class and by school, to encourage diversity, equity, and inclusion, teachers may also mentor individual students and recommend them to the county competition.
School/organizational champions will be mentored by local Poet Laureates and poetry teachers preparing them to effectively compete at the county, state and national levels if selected.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program in partnership with the NEA, the Poetry Foundation, and each state’s arts agency. Important dates:
- September 1 - December 12, 2025 – registration open
- January 2026 – Mentoring sessions for teens via Zoom
- February 2026 – San Mateo County Finals
- March 15 - 16, 2026 – State Finals Competition in-person in Sacramento
- May 2025 – National Finals in-person in Washington, DC
Contact
Mara Grimes
mgrimes@smcgov.org
OAC Admin-Manager