TRACY — High school students from Manteca, Lathrop, Ripon and the surrounding areas are invited to try out for the county-wide Poetry Out Loud competition.

The invite for this event – POL is a national competition and curriculum that teaches literature, public speaking, text analysis, and memorization skills – is from the San Joaquin Arts community, working with a mentorship from the Amador County Arts Council.

Every high school can send up to three students to the semi-final competition – the semifinals for that will be conducted via video submissions due Friday, Jan. 10.

The POL judging rubric will be available at www.poetryoutloud.org.

The top 10 entrants will advance to the San Joaquin Poetry Out Loud Finals on Friday, Feb. 7, at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, 715 N. Central Ave., Tracy, beginning at 6 p.m.

Stockton Poet Laureate Emeritus Mama T will serve as host.

The judges will be local youth and young adult artists of Amador and San Joaquin counties.

The Amador County Arts Council is mentoring the broad art community of SJC in an effort to establish a State / Local Partner to serve the county. By that, SJC can be part of a state-wide network of arts agencies that will advance, serve, and sustain the arts and cultural ecosystem unique to the county.

“Without a State / Local Partner, there is no official way for San Joaquin County students to participate in this national competition,” said the SJ Arts community in a recent press release.

Last year, Ianna Diaz of Tracy had to compete in the Stanislaus County Art Council.

For more information, call 209.256.8166 or email sanjoaquinarts@gmail.com.