Yumna Juha, a sophomore from Montgomery High School in Skillman, NJ, and Sophia Padilla, a sophomore from Morris County School of Technology in Denville, NJ were named the Region 4 Finalists at the 2024 New Jersey Poetry Out Loud Region 4 competition, part of the National Poetry Out Loud recitation program. The adjudication took place on February 5, 2024 at MPAC in Morristown, NJ.
Yumna Jua and Sophia Padilla will represent Region 4 at the Poetry Out Loud State Finals on March 14, 2024, at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank. Participants from 6 regions throughout the state will compete for the title of State Champion. The State Champion will move on to represent New Jersey at the National Finals in Washington D.C. later this spring.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the 55 state and jurisdictional arts agencies.
Congratulations to the Region 4 Finalists. For more information about New Jersey Poetry Out Loud, the State Finals, and more, visit www.njpol.org
ABOUT THE NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State and a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council believes the arts are central to every element we value most in a modern society including: human understanding; cultural and civic pride; strong communities; excellent schools; lifelong learning; creative expression; and economic opportunity. To learn more about the Council, please visit www.artscouncil.nj.gov.
ABOUT NEW JERSEY POETRY OUT LOUD
New Jersey Poetry Out Loud is a project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Count Basie Center for the Arts. Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program, led by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, in partnership with the state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the country. In New Jersey, the State Arts Council and the Basie work with a growing network of regional partners to implement the program statewide.
ABOUT MPAC
Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2023-2024 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.
