2024 Poetry Out Missouri State Champion Julie Clayton | photo, Lloyd Grotjan
POETRY OUT LOUD
2024 Missouri state champion is Julie Clayton of Webster Groves – 2025 state finals will take place March 6
Julie Clayton, a senior at Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves, is the 2024 Missouri state champion of Poetry Out Loud. She won the championship at the Missouri state competition held in Jefferson City on March 7. She went on to represent Missouri in the national finals April 30-May 2 in Washington, D.C.
“The entire experience I’ve had competing across the state and country has changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to express,” said Ms. Clayton. “I’ve made so many new friends and been inspired by the shared passion for poetry between me and other students.” She wrote about how her love of poetry developed and her experiences with Poetry Out Loud in a guest column for Missouri Poet Laureate David L. Harrison’s weekly newspaper feature, Poetry From Daily Life. Her story is Hearing Dad’s Drumming on the Steering Wheel in a Poem’s Beat.
Ms. Clayton chose to perform these works by American poets.
- The Oldest Living Thing in L.A. by 20th-century poet Larry Levis
- Father Son and Holy Ghost by 20th-century poet Audre Lorde
- Israfel by 19th-century poet Edgar Allan Poe
The runner-up in the Missouri state finals was Timothy Browdy, a senior at St. Louis University High School in St. Louis.
“Students tell us this dynamic competition has a powerful impact on their lives,” said Michael Donovan, Missouri Arts Council executive director. “Poetry Out Loud reaches students in schools all over Missouri. We are proud to have been part of this program from its beginning in 2006.”
Poetry Out Loud encourages the study of great poetry by providing free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country. Competitions start in individual high schools or with local organizations such as libraries and other nonprofits. The winners of one tier of competition advance to the next, ending at the national finals.
Poetry Out Loud helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. The program was created in 2006 by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and is supported by the Foundation, NEA, and state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Missouri has participated in Poetry Out Loud from the beginning. The Missouri Arts Council and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education work in partnership to bring Poetry Out Loud to Missouri.
Judges for the Missouri state finals, drawn from throughout the state, were Kate Merrick, 2019 Missouri state champion; Aryiel Everett, 2008 Missouri state champion; Teresa Miller, digital expert; and Stuart Smith, assistant curriculum director, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
MISSOURI’S REGIONAL CHAMPIONS OF POETRY OUT LOUD 2024
• Gilberto Alexander, senior, Stockton High School, Stockton
• Timothy Browdy, senior, St. Louis University High School, St. Louis
• Julie Clayton, senior, Nerinx Hall High School, Webster Groves
• Harley Hinkle, senior, Woodland R-IV High School, Marble Hill
• Sola Owens, junior, St. Teresa’s Academy, Kansas City
• Aidan Storms, junior, Timberland High School, Lake Saint Louis
19 YEARS OF POETRY OUT LOUD IN MISSOURI
From the first national Poetry Out Loud in 2006 through today, these are Missouri’s state champions.
2024 | Julie Clayton, Nerinx Hall High School, Webster Groves
2023 | Nick Merlo, Crossroads College Preparatory School, St. Louis
2022 | Ava Maupin, School of the Osage High School, Osage Beach
2021 | Mattie Mills, Notre Dame de Sion High School, Kansas City
2020 | Mary Margaret Hughes, Central High School, Springfield
2019 | Kate Brown, Stockton High School, Stockton
2018 | Shakira Cross, Hickman High School, Columbia
2017 | Emily Bauer, Parkway West High School, St. Louis County
2016 | Sarah Koo, Parkway North High School, St. Louis County
2015 | Maya Bryant, Holt High School, Wentzville
2014 | Thomas Fields, St. Louis University High School, St. Louis
2013 | Essence Imani Lee, Crossroads College Preparatory School, St. Louis
2012 | Cameron Locke, Stockton High School, Stockton
2011 | Terry Watkins, Jr., Crossroads College Preparatory, St. Louis
2010 | Nicole Andrews, Springfield R-12 Central High School, Springfield
2009 | Pete Winfrey, St. Louis University High School, St. Louis
2008 | Aryiel Everett, Park Hill South High School, Riverside
2007 | Michael Brown, Blue Springs High School, Blue Springs
2006 | Aislinn Lowry, Jefferson City High School, Jefferson City
RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS
Schools begin to register for Poetry Out Loud every fall at the beginning of the academic year. Check these resources to learn more about how the program works and the benefits it brings to students and schools. Also, contact Jenni Ryan, Missouri Arts Council arts education specialist, at jenni.ryan.ltgov.mo.gov or 314-340-6857.
- Poetry Out Loud national program
- National Endowment for the Arts pages about Poetry Out Loud
- Poetry Foundation
- Poetry Out Loud: Best High School Poetry Activity Ever – Marilyn Yung, English teacher in Urbana, Missouri, tells the story of her adventures with running the 2022 program for Hickory County Skyline High School. “Poetry Out Loud is simply one of the best things I’ve done in my 11 years of teaching!”
- Get Involved in Poetry Out Loud! video – Hear from students and teachers about why they love the program in this five-minute video. Missouri is prominently featured. There are comments from Thomas Fields, 2014 Missouri State Champion and one of only nine finalists in the 2014 nationals. There are also comments from Charles Hussung, teacher at St. Louis University High School at which Thomas was a senior, and from Virginia Sanders of the Missouri Arts Council, our Missouri Poetry Out Loud coordinator.
- Letter from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to school superintendents describing the 2021-22 program and how Poetry Out Loud benefits schools
- Article by the National Association of State Arts Agencies lauding the program’s life-changing “power of poetry and partnership”