ANCHORAGE, AK – 18 March 2026  –  The Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council announce the 2026 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 9th, (9) Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Finalists gathered for the Alaska State Competition in the Capital City of Juneau. We are proud to announce that Cassie Lumba from Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé will represent the State of Alaska for the National Competition in Washington DC as our 2026 Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Champion, April 27-29. Jasminka Jaksic of West Anchorage High School is the Runner-up for Alaska Poetry Out Loud 2026.

All of the 2026 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-2026/. Visit https://poetryoutloud.org/ for information about the National Semifinals and Finals in April.

The 2026 Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Finalists are:

• Jasminka Jaksic of West Anchorage High School
• Cassie Lumba of Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé
• Mette Miller of Petersburg High School
• Jocelyn Oettinger of Tanalian School in Port Alsworth
• Freya Tucker of Petersburg High School
• Kieri Dot Tuttle of IDEA Home School in Anchorage
• Robert Wilson of Homer High School
• Grace Yang of West Anchorage High School
• Lumi Fermin of Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé

At the Alaska State Poetry Out Loud Competition, Alaska State Champion Cassie Lumba recited the following poems: Under the Harvest Moon by Carl Sandburg, Longings by Nellie Rathbone Bright, and O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman. Runner-up Jasminka Jaksic recited: Militants to Certain Other Women by Katharine Rolston Fisher, The Paradox by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Susan B. Anthony by Katharine Rolston Fisher.           

At the State Competition, Juneau Arts and Humanities Council Executive Director, Maggie McMillan and Alaska State Council on the Arts Chair, Benjamin Brown provided opening remarks. Alaska State Writer Laureate, Vera Starbard made keynote remarks to the students before the final round of recitation.

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 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.

Cassie 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 recitation in April. In total, $50,000 in awards and school/organization stipends, including a $20,000 award for the 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion will be presented.