Any representative of a Kentucky public or private high school may apply. Homeschooled students may compete through a participating local high school or a home school regional competition hosted by a local library or community center. Participating students must be in grades nine through 12. Multiple classes are encouraged to participate at each school. Acceptance will be on a first-come, first-served basis as program resources allow. 

Each participating school will: 

• Select one teacher to serve as the program coordinator who will incorporate poetry recitation into their class curriculum, be the primary point of contact with the arts council, and organize a schoolwide poetry competition. 

• Receive a fully funded interactive residency from a professional teaching artist to help students prepare for competition. The school coordinator and teaching artist will work together to plan their class schedules. 

• Receive free multimedia curriculum materials, including teacher guides and promotional content. School coordinators must use the Kentucky Arts Council, Poetry Out Loud and NEA logos on all printed materials, including press releases, programs, etc. 

• Organize a schoolwide poetry competition with no fewer than two students and no fewer than two rounds of recitation to select a school champion. The school champion will then compete in the State Finals competition. The state champion will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete for a $20,000 scholarship in the National Finals. The state champion’s school will also receive a $500 award for the purchase of poetry books.  

• Submit a final report on the school contest, highlighting student and teacher experiences, within 15 days after completion of the school contest. Noncompliant schools will be disqualified. 

Note: In the event of school closure, teaching artist residencies, school contests, and the state finals contest may be conducted virtually. The arts council will provide updated guidance as necessary. 

• The Kentucky Arts Council will pay the teaching artist directly once the school has submitted the final report. The report is due 15 days after the school championship. 

• Participating class size must not exceed 31 students when the teaching artist is working with the school. A “class” is defined as a unique group of not more than 31 students. 

• Teaching artists may only work with each distinct class of students one time. 

• Teaching artists may work with a minimum of four and a maximum of 25 distinct classes in a five-day period. 

• A teacher must always remain present when the students are working with the teaching artist. 

• The school champion must be in grade nine through 12 and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident as required by the NEA. 

Obtain approval: Arrange for your administrators (e.g., district superintendent) to approve your school’s participation in Poetry Out Loud.

Complete the registration form: Registrations for this program are made through our GO Smart online grants system. Before registering, carefully read all instructions included in this document. Registration must be submitted online by the deadline. Following the deadline, each registration form will be reviewed by the program director, who may contact the registrant if clarification is needed.

• Before beginning the application, you will need to login or create a profile, including a username and password at https://kyarts.gosmart.org/. For this program you will need to create an “organization” profile. Do not select “individual” profile. Store your username and password in a safe place to ensure that you can access your account later. You can use this profile to apply for this program year after year and update it as needed. If your school or organization already has a Go Smart profile, do not create a new profile. Contact the arts council if you require profile assistance.
• You can look up your federal congressional district here, and your state legislative districts here.
• Once the profile page has been created you will be re-directed to the arts council’s grant management system. To begin your registration, select “Current Programs & Applications,” then scroll down to “Poetry Out Loud FY26.”