TULARE COUNTY – The 40th annual Poetry & Prose event will begin this week at the Tulare County Office of Education (TCOE), providing K-8 grade students an opportunity to perform before a live audience.
TCOE communications director Robert Herman told The Sun-Gazette the seven-day event has continued to grow over the years and will include more than 2,000 students this year.
“What we have seen from this event is that it provides students who participate with the confidence to speak before a live audience,” Herman said. “That is huge in terms of building their self-esteem and their ability to present as they get older.”
Students from schools in Kings, Tulare and Fresno County will participate this year. The event is open to the public and begins today, March 25. A schedule of the school’s participation dates is available on the TCOE website. Families are encouraged to attend and help support their students.
“We have seen generations of students come through and parents who have gone through the program and their students can look back on the event with fondness,” Herman said. “Many of the parents can still recite their poems from years ago.”
The Poetry & Prose event is part of a larger effort by TCOE called “Poetry Live,” which aims to encourage students to explore poetry and enhance public speaking skills. Earlier this year, two events were held, including the Poet’s Own Voice event that was open to middle school and high school students presenting original works.
Another event called Poetry Out Loud is a national competition in which students recite poetry selected from an anthology. The poems include everything from modern works to ancient poems, Herman said. Both events were held in February.
“With Poetry & Prose, we are really trying to encourage them that they don’t have to stop here,” Herman said. “We want to encourage them that there are other opportunities to participate in poetry and spoken word in Middle School and High School.”
