The Ventura County Arts Council has announced that the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura's downtown cultural district will host the 2009 Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest county competition on Thurs., Feb. 19.

Students at public, private, and parochial high schools, as well as homeschoolers, may participate. High school students will present poetry through memorization and performance.

Nationally approved educational materials and teachers guides are free. There is no fee to participate. Students make their selections from an anthology of hundreds of poems.

Competitions are held in schools, with the school winners moving on to the county level. The county winner advances to the California state championship and perhaps to the national contest in Washington, D.C. in April.

Interested teachers, administrators, parents and students may call the arts council at (805) 658-2213 for details on how they can participate.

For general information, go to www.cac.ca.gov or www.poetryoutloud.org.