CONTACT:laura.forbes@alaska.gov

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ANCHORAGE, AK – 20 April 2025 – The Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council announce the 2025 Runner-up and Alaska State Champion for Poetry Out Loud™.

The Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, 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 5th, (11) Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Finalists gathered for the Alaska State Competition in the Capital City of Juneau. We are proud to announce that Mona Koko from West Anchorage High School will represent the State of Alaska for the National Competition in Washington DC as our 2025 Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Champion, May 5-7. Raiden Skorski-O’Donnell of Homer High School is the Runner-up for Alaska Poetry Out Loud 2025.

All of the 2025 State Finalists recited their poetry selections with distinction and excellence, and the recording of the competition is available in partnership with KTOO Public Media at https://www.ktoo.org/video/poetry-out-loud-2025/.

The 2025 Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Finalists are:

• 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

• Mona Koko of West Anchorage High School

• Lumi Fermin of Juneau-Douglas High School

This is the second year that Mona Koko will represent Alaska at the National Finals, and the 20th Anniversary of the Poetry Out Loud™ program. Ms. Koko’s poetry selections for the Alaska State Poetry Out Loud were: Windigo by Louise Erdrich, Songs for the People by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Haiku and Tanka for Harriet Tubman by Sonia Sanchez.

These poems and the full Poetry Out Loud Anthology are available online at https://www.poetryoutloud.org/search/?type=poem. Information about Alaska State Poetry Out Loud is available at https://www.jahc.org/education/alaska-poetry-out-loud/.

The winner of the Poetry Out Loud Alaska state finals receives $200 and an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. with a chaperone, and the winner’s representing school or organization will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry materials. The first runner-up will receive $100, with $200 for their representing school or organization to purchase poetry materials.

Mona 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 round of recitiation in Washington DC on May 5 - 7, 2025. In total, $50,000 in awards and school/organization stipends, including a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion will be presented.

Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) represents, supports, and advances the creative endeavors of individuals, organizations, and agencies throughout Alaska.

The Juneau Arts & Humanities Council (the Council) incorporated in 1973. It is the formal arts agency for the Capital City of Juneau, Alaska and operates the Juneau Arts and Culture Center (JACC), a vibrant community center; providing a location for concerts and events, rotating gallery, and a lobby gift shop.