South Dakota high school students will share their talents and the work of great poets while competing for the state title at the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition Monday (March 9, 2026) in Sioux Falls.
The event begins at 1 p.m. CDT at the Washington Pavilion.
Five students will compete for the title of state champion through the recitation program. Those students are:
- Damien Deen, Washington High School, Sioux Falls;
- Gabriel Gatilogo, St. Francis Indian School, St. Francis;
- Edom Hiruy, Jefferson High School, Sioux Falls;
- Mads McCullough, Brookings High School, Brookings;
- Nikolas Yellowboy, Little Wound High School, Kyle.
The student who places first at the state competition will represent South Dakota in Washington, D.C., and compete in the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, April 27-29, 2026.
Learys Mercado-Castello, Jefferson High School, Sioux Falls, has already won the original poetry competition, and will present their poems at the event.
The contest is free to attend, open to the public, and will be livestreamed online at https://www.youtube.com/@SouthDakotaArtsCouncil.
Poetry Out Loud, a national arts education program, starts in the classroom and encourages the study of poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. South Dakota’s program is administered by the South Dakota Arts Council with help from Arts South Dakota and South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
Poetry Out Loud was created in partnership by the National Endowment for the Arts with the collaboration of state arts agencies. It is intended to foster the next generation of literary readers by building on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form. Through Poetry Out Loud, students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.
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