Poetry Out Loud competitions at the local, regional, and state levels may be held virtually or in person. For organizers administering a virtual competition, please reference the How To Administer a Poetry Out Loud Virtual Competition and How to Film a POL Recitation for a Virtual Competition documents. The Poetry Out Loud National Finals will be held in Washington, DC from May 5-7, 2025. For more information on holding competitions, please visit the Organizing a Competition page.
State Finals
| State/Territory | Date | Winner & School/Org |
| Alabama | February 27, 2025 | Mikayla Austin- Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School |
| Alaska | March 5, 2025 | Mona Koko- West Anchorage High School |
| American Samoa | March 7, 2025 | Hazel Leo- Iakina Adventist Academy |
| Arizona | March 8, 2025 | Liam McLaughlin- Gary K Herberger Young Scholars Academy |
| Arkansas | March 1, 2025 | Lillian Baker- Sheridan High School |
| California | March 16, 2025 | Selah Johnson- Archer School for Girls |
| Colorado | March 17, 2025 | Rize Simmons- Windsor High School |
| Connecticut | March 7, 2025 | Lia Muñoz Rojas- Ridgefield High School |
| Delaware | February 20, 2025 | Olivia Stevens- Mount Sophia Academy |
| District of Columbia | March 15, 2025 | Nyla Dinkins- Benjamin Banneker High School |
| Florida | March 15, 2025 | Esinam Agama- Tallahassee Collegiate Academy |
| Georgia | March 8, 2025 | Tiana Jones- Whitefield Academy |
| Guam | March 15, 2025 | Gracie Dionae Manibusan- Notre Dame High School |
| Hawaii | February 23, 2025 | Koaliʻi Keawe-Asuega- Kapālama High School |
| Idaho | March 15, 2025 | Emma Eldred- New Plymouth High School |
| Illinois | March 17, 2025 | Mikiah Gerrity- Jefferson High School |
| Indiana | March 1, 2025 | Eve-Marie Baxter- Indiana Humanities |
| Iowa | March 9, 2025 | Emma B. Oleson- North High School / LAMB Arts |
| Kansas | March 8, 2025 | Ismail Saeed- Wichita East High School |
| Kentucky | March 14, 2025 | Javontae Cranmo- Beechwood High School |
| Louisiana | March 13, 2025 | Alana Bailey- Covington High School |
| Maine | March 3, 2025 | Pendo Dawe- Maine Coast Waldorf School |
| Maryland | March 1, 2025 | Penelope Tofigh- River Hill High School |
| Massachusetts | March 16, 2025 | Abigail Drumm- Agawam High School |
| Michigan | March 14, 2025 | Nour Al-Yasseri- Star International Academy |
| Minnesota | February 21, 2025 | Sofia Skuza Rivera- St. Paul Academy & Summit School |
| Mississippi | March 6, 2025 | Saabria Prater- Pascagoula High School |
| Missouri | March 6, 2025 | Louisa Blackmoore- Crossroads College Preparatory School |
| Montana | March 8, 2025 | Eva Murray- Anaconda Jr/Sr High School |
| Nebraska | March 9, 2025 | Lainey Fillmore- Gordon-Rushville High School |
| Nevada | March 15, 2025 | Kyara Hernandez-Duarte- Elko High School |
| New Hampshire | March 14, 2025 | Reagan Sutherland- Plymouth Regional High School |
| New Jersey | March 12, 2025 | Hadassah Broughton- Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart |
| New Mexico | March 16, 2025 | Kaitlyn Lubega- United World College-USA |
| New York | March 15, 2025 | Savir Peri- Syosset High School |
| North Carolina | March 8, 2025 | Anika Ryder- Central Academy of Technology and Arts |
| North Dakota | March 3, 2025 | Leah Hochhalter- Valley City High School |
| Ohio | February 7, 2025 | Zeke Moses- Bexley High School |
| Oklahoma | March 5, 2025 | Elisha Dalmeida- Jenks High School |
| Oregon | March 8, 2025 | Bena Rodecap- Grant High School |
| Pennsylvania | March 3, 2025 | Isavel Mendoza- Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts |
| Puerto Rico | March 7, 2025 | Sarah Lu Xu- Centro de Oportunidades Educativas de Mayagüez |
| Rhode Island | March 8, 2025 | Emmanuel Obisanya- Classical High School |
| South Carolina | March 8, 2025 | Faith Angeline Ongaria- Wilson High School |
| South Dakota | March 10, 2025 | Teonna Randle- Jefferson High School |
| Tennessee | March 1, 2025 | Elizabeth Silva- Baylor School |
| Texas | February 22, 2025 | Oluwabori Fadairo- The Hockaday School |
| Utah | March 12, 2025 | Sariah Calles- Box Elder High School |
| Vermont | March 14, 2025 | Mapenzi Selemani- Winooski High School |
| Virgin Islands | March 8, 2025 | Maya Prasad- Good Hope Country Day School |
| Virginia | March 7, 2025 | Nadia Shalaby- Fredericksburg Academy |
| Washington | March 8, 2025 | Sydney Frost- Mt. Spokane High School |
| West Virginia | March 1, 2025 | Emily Porter- Logan High School |
| Wisconsin | March 1, 2025 | Riley Grace Saenim- The Prairie School |
| Wyoming | March 3, 2025 | Alex Brady- Cheyenne East High School |
Find your state’s Poetry Out Loud coordinator here.