The Poetry Out Loud National Finals will be held in Washington, DC from May 5-7, 2025. The National Semifinals will be held on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, from 9:00 AM– 8:00 PM ET. Champions from each state will perform in one of three semifinal groups, and the top three students from each semifinal group will move on to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 7:00 PM ET.
9:00 a.m. ET— Champions from Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.
1:00 p.m. ET— Champions from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
5:00 p.m. ET— Champions from Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
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.