2026 Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals (Region 2)

Reciting poetry from an anthology that celebrates historic American voices, state and jurisdictional champions competed for the national champion title and a $20,000 cash prize. Region 3 included champions from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Poetry Out Loud is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with participating state and jurisdictional arts agencies and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts. It has reached more than 4.5 million students since it began in 2005. This year’s state and jurisdictional champions advanced from more than 130,000 students nationwide. Learn more at poetryoutloud.org. Riley Grace Saenim 0:04:51 Jayda Dawn 0:08:17 Aarvi Shah 0:11:06 MajieAhna Winfrey 0:12:47 Rory Berg 0:17:58 Lillian Baker 0:19:35 Miriam Mantara 0:21:30 Emma Oleson 0:23:53 Mallory Lott 0:27:15 Sarah Wheatley 0:29:23 Bella Slone 0:33:17 Elayjah Earles 0:36:50 Eliza Aldridge 0:39:44 Sarah Williamson 0:43:14 David D'Aguilar 0:45:49 Esinam Agama 0:48:14 Salvador Gonzalez 0:51:02 Jaden Conley 0:53:32 Riley Grace Saenim 0:57:12 Jayda Dawn 0:59:56 Aarvi Shah 1:01:42 MajieAhna Winfrey 1:04:16 Rory Berg 1:07:08 Lillian Baker 1:10:21 Miriam Mantara 1:12:48 Emma Oleson 1:15:26 Mallory Lott 1:18:03 Sarah Wheatley 1:21:23 Bella Slone 1:24:15 Elayjah Earles 1:25:36 Eliza Aldridge 1:27:28 Sarah Williamson 1:28:43 David D'Aguilar 1:30:45 Esinam Agama 1:32:58 Salvador Gonzalez 1:35:43 Jaden Conley 1:37:25 Riley Grace Saenim 1:48:48 Jayda Dawn 1:51:39 Rory Berg 1:53:00 Emma Oleson 1:54:34 Mallory Lott 1:57:22 Elayjah Earles 2:00:18 Salvador Gonzalez 2:01:32 Jaden Conley 2:04:45