In 2005 the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation established the Poetry Out Loud contest, which utilizes poetry as a vehicle to test teenage students on their oration and interpretation skills. The contest, open to high school students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, requires teenagers to analyze and memorize classic or contemporary poems for public recitation. The program is instrumental in helping adolescents establish public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn through poetry. Poetry Out Loud contests originate at the classroom level; classroom winners advance to the school level; school-level winners compete at a regional level; and regional winners will advance to the national finals, which will be held in the District of Columbia April 25-26. The central Illinois regional contest is administered by the Illinois Arts Council Agency in partnership with the Springfield Area Arts Council, and features recitations from school-level winners from 15 area high schools. For more information about Poetry Out Loud, visit http://springfieldartsco.org or call the SAAC at 753-3519.