While comprising only about 23% of Alaska’s student population, homeschool students outperformed their brick-and-mortar public school counterparts in the Alaska State Champion for Poetry Out Loud.

More than 36% of the finalists (4 out of 11) in the annual poetry recital contest were homeschoolers.

The competition is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. In Alaska, Poetry Out Loud is a program of the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council.

On March 5, 11 Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Finalists gathered for the Alaska State Competition in the Capital City of Juneau. The eventual winner was defending champion Mona Koko from West Anchorage High School, who will represent Alaska for the National Competition in Washington DC, May 5-7.

The other finalists are listed here.

— Julia Wang of Fairbanks BEST Home School

— Mina Yee of Skagway School

— Raiden Skorski-O’Donnell of Homer High School

— Grace Nicholson of IDEA Homeschool

— Jada Lormore of North Pole High School

— Thomas Olsen-Phillips of Petersburg High School

— Addisyn Chaney of JDHS Homebridge in Juneau

— Malachi Grossmann of Tanalian School in Port Alsworth

— Rayanna Proch of Upstream Learning in Copper River School District

— Lumi Fermin of Juneau-Douglas High School

In winning the Poetry Out Loud Alaska state finals Koko receives $200 and an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. Her school receives a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry materials.

Koko will go on to compete with 55 other state and jurisdictional champions in the Poetry Out Loud National Semi-finals, with Semi-Final State Champions advancing to the Finals.

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