The Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest was created in 2006 by the National Endowment for the Arts under chairman Dana Gioia and The Poetry Foundation. The contest seeks to promote the art of performing poetry, by awarding cash prizes to participating schools. It includes representatives from the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S Virgin Islands. Competition The contest features some 900 poems for students to choose from. Typically, the competition begins at the school level, where the students recite one or two poems. The first and sometimes second place winners of each school-level competition attend regional competitions. The finalist(s) from each region attend state-level competitions to perform three poems. Each state winner performs the same three poems in Washington D.C. during the last week of April or the first week of May. Competitors are divided into three groups or regions. Each region holds a semi-final and sends three (formerly four) competitors to the final round. The final nine then recite two poems, and the top three recite a third poem. Judges (who are usually poetry/literary celebrities) select the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. The 1st place winner wins $20,000, the 2nd place winner wins $10,000, and the 3rd place winner wins $5,000. The 4th-9th place takes home $1,000. All 53 finalists win $200 from their state competition, along with a stipend for their high school to purchase poetry books. Poem criteria Contestants have specific criteria for the poems at the state and national levels. All poems must be selected from an online or paper anthology to be eligible for competition. One poem must be pre-20th century, and one must be 25 lines or fewer. One poem can account for both criteria, leaving the second and third poems unrestricted. These rules aim to expose students to poetry that they otherwise may not have been interested in and set a standard that all students are held accountable to, while also ensuring that the poetry is not obscene or overly long. Winners 2006 - Jackson Hille of Columbus Alternative High School in Ohio became National Champion. Teal Van Dyck of Bow High School in New Hampshire won second place. Kellie Anae of Mid-Pacific Institute in Hawaii won third place. 2007 - The 2007 National Poetry Out Loud Champion was Amanda Fernandez, of the District of Columbia. Branden Emanual Wellington of Indiana placed second, and third place went