The Poetry Foundation and the NEA announced that last year's pilot recitation contest for High Schoolers, the National Recitation Contest, (held only in Chicago and Washington D.C.), will hit all 50 state capitals in Spring 2006. Play AP English and visit Poetry Out Loud's website to to browse poems enriched with audio links.

The Chicago winner from last year recited "Susie Asado" by Gertrude Stein. Excited about the educational possibilities, NEA chairman and poet Dana Gioia said to the AP, "I think the competitive energy you see in sports can be brought into the English classroom . . . And you'll have a different set of stars than you find on the basketball court or baseball field."