The Huntington Education Department to Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts

The Huntington Education Department will celebrate the nation’s largest chapter of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest. The Massachusetts chapter is run locally by The Huntington in partnership with the Mass Cultural Council and nationwide by The Poetry Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. Poetry Out Loud, now in its 20th anniversary year, held the Massachusetts state finals at the Old South Meeting House this past Sunday, March 16, 2025. Abigail Drumm, a Senior from Agawam High School is the 2025 Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts State Champion and has won an all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete at Nationals. The 2nd place poet is Ailin Sha who is a Senior from Boston Latin School. The 3rd place poet is Iris Zhao who is a Junior from Mystic Valley Regional Charter School.
 
Powered by The Huntington on the community level and nurtured at the state-level through Mass Cultural Council (and further bolstered by Governor Maura Healey’s recent executive order creating a poet laureate position in Massachusetts for the first time in the state’s history), Massachusetts continues to shine in its commitment to beautiful language and powerful art.
 
With over 17,000 students participating in Poetry Out Loud this year, The Huntington Education Department continues to bring theatre and poetry – and the skills and inspiration those arts foster – into young people’s lives. Theatre education and performance opportunities can build prosocial behavior in students, encourage empathy, improve public speaking skills, and develop both creative and critical thinking. By championing theatre and poetry education, The Huntington team is proud to ensure that the next generation not only amplifies its voice but also shapes the cultural and artistic legacy of our time.
 
“This is such a thrilling season for Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts, we have been anticipating its 20th Anniversary for quite some time now,” says Huntington Director of Education Meg O’Brien. “Over the course of two decades, we’ve seen countless examples of how vital this program is to the students who experience it. The impact and importance of programs like Poetry Out Loud cannot be understated. Students from all walks of life find something to love about this program, whether it’s their poem, the friends they make along the way, or the chance to compete for the title of State Champion and represent their state at Nationals. We are awestruck and very proud to be the largest Poetry Out Loud chapter in the country this year for both number of students and teachers participating. We are also third in the nation for the number of schools participating. I know our program will continue to grow and we are excited to see what POL will bring to Massachusetts in the next five, ten, and twenty years.”
 
“Massachusetts is a celebrated hub of arts, culture, history, creativity, and innovation,” said Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council. “For two decades, Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts has used language and creativity to inspire young people to tell stories, evoke emotion, and use what they learn as inspiration for new ideas. We are thrilled to honor this partnership and this program in its 20th year.”
 
One of the most extensive and admired programs in the country, The Huntington Education Department serves more than 30,000 students, teachers, and community organizations each year with student matinees, Huntington Academy, Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts, in-school residency programs, True Colors’ Next Narrative Monologue Competition, and more. Collaborators in this work include Boston Public Schools, Codman Academy Charter Public School, the National Endowment for the Arts, Mass Cultural Council, and many community organizations.
 
 
ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD
 
Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation contest that celebrates the power of the spoken word and a mastery of public speaking skills while cultivating self-confidence and an appreciation of students’ literary heritage as they take poetry from the page to the stage. Poetry Out Loud has inspired hundreds of thousands of high school students to discover and appreciate both classic and contemporary poetry. Several students who have come up through The Huntington’s education program have gone on to rank in the top nine students in the national competition.
 
“Poetry Out Loud helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage,” says the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. “By encouraging students to study, memorize, and perform some of the most influential and timeless poems of the English language, you immerse them in powerful expression and provocative ideas.”
 
Regional semi-finals were held on March 8-10, 2025 in multiple locations across The Commonwealth. Massachusetts State Champions have been top 9 National Finalists in 2008, 2011, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
 

The 2025 state finalists in Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts are:

 
Abigail Drumm, Agawam High School
Ailin Sha, Boston Latin School
Mirabel Han, The Commonwealth School
Zara Norris, Dennis Yarmouth Regional High School
Jason Yang, Lexington High School
Noah Eaton, Longmeadow High School
Thomas Conti, Malden High School
Hannah Haseltine, Melrose High School
Iris Zhao, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School
Mia Brillantes, The Newman School
Adriana Mendes, Norwell High School
Madigan Chubb, Plymouth South High School
Katharine Maynard-DaSilva, Rockland High School
Breanna Prindle, Sandwich Middle High School
Rohan Ghatge St. Sebastian's School
 

The schools and organizations that participated in Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts 2025 are:
 

Agawam High School, Agawam
Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough
Avon Middle High School, Avon
Barnstable High School, Barnstable
Boston Latin School, Boston
Bourne High School, Bourne
Brookline High School, Brookline 
Burlington High School, Burlington
CATS Academy Boston, Braintree
Charlestown High School, Charlestown
Chelsea High School, Chelsea 
Codman Academy Charter Public School, Boston
Commonwealth School, The, Boston
Community Through Theater, Boston 
Concord Carlisle Regional High School, Concord
Dartmouth High School, Dartmouth
Dennis Yarmouth Regional High School, South Yarmouth
Dexter Southfield School, Brookline
Dracut High School, Dracut
Falmouth High School, Falmouth 
Foxborough Regional Charter School, Foxborough
Framingham High School, Framingham
Franklin High School, Franklin
Groton School, Groton
Hampden Charter School of Science, Chicopee
Haverhill High School, Haverhill
Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Hopkinton 
Hull High School, Hull
International School of Boston, Cambridge
John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, Boston
Lexington High School, Lexington
LightHouse Holyoke, Holyoke
Longmeadow High School, Longmeadow
Malden High School, Malden
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs
Masconomet Regional High School, Boxford
Melrose High School, Melrose
Meridian Academy, Boston
Methuen High School, Methuen
Milton Academy, Milton
Minnechaug Regional High School, Wilbraham
Montrose School, Medfield
Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, Malden
Nantucket High School, Nantucket
Natick High School, Natick
Needham High School, Needham
 New Heights Charter School, Brockton
Newburyport High School, Newburyport
Newman School, The, Boston
NorthShore Youth Spoken Word, Lynn 
Norwell High School, Norwell
Plymouth North High School, Plymouth
Plymouth South High School, Plymouth
Rockland High School, Rockland
Roxbury Prep High School, Boston
Salem Academy Charter School, Salem
Sandwich Middle High School, Sandwich
South Hadley High School, South Hadley
South Shore Charter Public School, Norwell
Springfield Central High School, Springfield
St. Sebastian’s School, Needham
Stoneham High School, Stoneham
Tewksbury Memorial High School, Tewksbury
Whitman Hanson Regional High School, Whitman
Wilbraham and Monson Academy, Wilbraham