LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lake County Arts Council and Lake County Poet Laureate Brenda Yeager invite the public to attend the 2025 Lake County Poetry Out Loud competition.

The event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1, at noon at the Soper Reese Theater, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.

For 2025, competing schools are Lower Lake High School, Middletown High School and Kelseyville High School.

Teachers at each school and county representative for California Poets in the Schools Michele Krueger have been diligently working with their students for this program.

Writers Pamela Bordisso, Georgina Marie, Richard Schmidt, Beulah Vega and Roy Blodgett will judge this year’s county competition.

Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide program that’s celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

The event is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation. This program encourages the nation's youth to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.

Since the program’s inception in 2005, millions of students and thousands of teachers across the nation have participated. The program culminates every year with classroom and school competitions.

School champions are invited to perform publicly and participate in the countywide competition. They can compete for the chance to represent Lake County at the state level. State winners then move on to compete at the national level. Every level of the competition has an opportunity for both pride and cash prizes.

Since 2007, the Lake County Arts Council has administered the Poetry Out Loud program in Lake County and annually hosts the countywide competition.

“This program allows for students to explore the art of the written word as well as performance,” said Lake County Arts Council Executive Director Barbara Clark. “It starts in the schools, but connects students to local artists and opportunities in the community. Also, having a cash prize at each competition for the students isn't a bad thing either.”

The Lake County Arts Council and participating schools hope to see many Lake County neighbors at the event to support poetry and our talented youth.