Thousands of students across the country are bringing poetry to life by competing in this year's Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. This is the contest's fifth year, and it is growing rapidly, influencing thousands of high school students to learn and perform poetry. Kristin Margolis, the California state contact from the California Arts Council, said that "there is an incredible demand for the program, with 300,000 participants nationwide this year." "California has the most competing in the nation," Margolis said. "We will have 40,000 students from 27 counties, which is a big jump from the 24 counties that competed last year and 20 counties the year before that." The progr