The first round of the Poetry Out Loud competition will be held Friday, Jan. 28 before school in the Robert L. Johnson auditorium.

Students who are involved can be chosen by their teacher, but can also sign up by themselves.

“If a student wants to participate, but their teacher isn’t doing something with it in class, there will be a sign up sheet before the competition. Anybody who really wants to compete can sign up,” coordinator of the event and English teacher Sharon Swanson said.

The students competing Friday morning have a long road ahead of them if they move onto further competitions.

“Each teacher will recommend a certain number of students and that competition is the one on the 29th. After that, the winners from our competition compete in Chicago. Whoever wins that one goes to Washington D.C. for the final round,” Swanson said.

Students have been preparing intensely for over a month now in anticipation to move forward.

“I am preparing for the Poetry Out Loud contest by reciting my poem multiple times in order for me to memorize it. My tactics in include recording myself and listening to it over and over as if it were a song which make it easier for me to remember and reciting it before I go to sleep and early in the morning so that I can repeat it throughout the day,” freshman Loredonna Lohan said.