As with the Poetry Out Loud high school competition, the junior competition begins in the classroom. Teachers will educate their students on poetry so they gain a better understanding of this writing style. Students will then choose poems from the Poetry Foundation archives that they resonate with. After practice, students will compete at a school competition, where a school champion will be crowned.

This champion will represent the school at the Tulare County Poetry Live event in February, where they will prepare two poems for recitation, and an additional for tie-breaking purposes only. Of the two poems, One of which must be 25 lines or fewer, and one must be written before the 20th century. One poem may meet both requirements to qualify.