Bismarck, ND – ND Council on the Arts NDCA is pleased to announce Leah Hochhalter of Valley City High School is the 2025 State Champion and first place winner of the North Dakota State Poetry Out Loud® (POL) contest. Joanie McCormack of Wilton Public School received second place honors with third place awarded to Sawyer Wilhelmi of Starkweather School.

Provided in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and NDCA, Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. POL provides free lesson plans and other educational materials to teachers and organizers, including an online anthology of 1,200 classic and contemporary poems. 

The program starts at the local level with a school or participating organization. Winners then may advance to a regional and/or state competition, and ultimately to the national finals. Since the program began in 2005, more than 4.4 million students and 81,000 teachers from 20,000 schools across the U.S. have participated in Poetry Out Loud. At the national finals, a total of $50,000 is awarded annually including a $20,000 award for the National Champion, $10,000 for 2nd place, $5,000 for 3rd place, and $1,000 for 4th-12th places. 

Master of Ceremonies Alicia Hegland-Thorpe, Poetry Out Loud Coordinator Matthew Anderson, POL Assistant Coordinator Brenna Lahren, and NDCA Executive Director Jessica Christy presented the awards to the participants. All contestants received a custom 20th Anniversary swag bag stuffed full of goodies, which included a certificate of participation. First place winner Leah Hochhalter received a trophy, a medallion, $200, and an all-expenses-paid trip (with an adult chaperone) to Washington, DC, May 5-7, to compete at the National Finals. Valley City High School received a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books and the honor of displaying the POL Traveling Trophy. Second place winner Joanie McCormack received a trophy, a medallion, and $100, with Wilton Public School receiving $200.

The 2025 North Dakota state competition judges included: Dr. Cheryl Ann Kary (Haunkuotawin), Executive Director, Sacred Pipe Resource Center; Jamee Larson, Senior Lecturer of Composition and Creative Writing, North Dakota State University; Bill Thomas, retired Director of Radio for 25 years, Prairie Public; Shadd Piehl, North Dakota Associate Poet Laureate, private investigator, and adjunct English Instructor, Bismarck State College; and accuracy judge Robin Bosch, Fiscal Officer and Grants Administrator, NDCA. Entertainment during the event included DJ music by David Diebel of D&N Cinematics and a special Keynote presentation by hip hop artist Stuart James, NDCA teaching artist and enrolled member of the MHA Nation.

For further information on national Poetry Out Loud, visit www.poetryoutloud.org or contact North Dakota’s POL Coordinator Matthew Anderson at (701) 328-7593 or mabanderson@nd.gov.