Beechwood student Javontae Cranmo takes top spot in Kentucky’s 2025 Poetry Out Loud state competition

Beechwood High School student Javontae Cranmo took home the championship title for the 2025 Poetry Out Loud state competition last week.

Cranmo will advance to the Poetry Out Loud national finals in Washington, DC, scheduled for May 5-7. In the final round, Cranmo performed “I Am the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg, one of the many approved pieces students could use for the contest.

This is Cranmo’s first year participating in the Poetry Out Loud program at the school/state level. He plans to attend the University of Tampa in the fall to double major in Philosophy and English on the Pre-Law track.

“This event celebrates poetry and growth — both personal and academic,” said Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman. “By preparing for this competition, students have developed skills that will serve them far beyond today’s event. Whether they’re engaging with colleagues, delivering a pitch, or advocating for a cause, the skills honed through Poetry Out Loud position these students for success. Congratulations on this year’s winner; we are confident that he will represent Team Kentucky with excellence in the national finals.”

“We are so happy to see interest in poetry and recitation from high school students in the commonwealth,” said Chris Cathers, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. “Each year, we are impressed with the high caliber performance from across the state and this year’s talent was phenomenal.”

Poetry Out Loud is a three-round poetry recitation competition sponsored by the Kentucky Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Each student, in the first and second rounds, is judged on the recitation of two poems. Five finalists are then judged on the recitation of a third poem. All poems are selected by the students and their teachers from an anthology of classic and contemporary works.

The state championship was initially scheduled for February 20 but had to be postponed due to historic flooding across the state, followed by winter storms.

Seven schools sent representatives to this year’s Poetry Out Loud state competition. Other competing schools included:

For more information about the Poetry Out Loud program in Kentucky, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.

Kentucky Arts Council