Poetry Finalists

Congratulations, all 2021 finalists!

This year’s theme: Share. Respect. Protect.

MIDDLE SCHOOL POETRY

kids and shark underwater

1st Place: Brooke Riley (Stewart)

2nd Place: Parker Caldwell (Meeker)

3rd Place: Mackenzie Walker (Truman)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.

HIGH SCHOOL POETRY

1st Place: Maria Cortez (Foss)

2nd Place: Tara Ryan (Foss)

3rd Place: Bianka Roberts (Lincoln)

Finalists: Lucia Ayer (Bellarmine); Faye Ballerino (Curtis); Destiny Bird (Lincoln); Sequi Brown (Lincoln); Julia Cholerton (Bellarmine); Paige Dupree (Lincoln); D’Juan Houston (Lincoln); Hyeseung Lee (Bellarmine); Jenovic Luzolo (Lincoln); Kate Nelson (Lakes); Kaiya Quintero (Lincoln); Nelly Ramos Laguna (Bellarmine); Courtney Smith (Lincoln); Alaisea Tuitelau (Lincoln); Daniel Walker (Lincoln); Kiara Young (Lincoln)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.

Congratulations, all 2020 finalists!

This year’s theme: We Are Ocean

MIDDLE SCHOOL POETRY

boy at ocean

1st Place (tie): Noah Kula (Jason Lee) and Mackenzie Walker (Truman)

2nd Place: Melia Bartlett (Jason Lee)

3rd Place: Katelyn Galloway (Jason Lee)

Finalists: Nao Wainer (Jason Lee); Lucy Johnson (Jason Lee); Gretchen Bonea (Jason Lee); Hannah Green (homeschool)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.
Scroll to hear finalists read their poems aloud.

Hear finalists read poems

Hear Nao Wainer reading “Endangered”
Hear Lucy Johnson reading “Your Plastic”
Hear Noah Kula reading “Our Ocean, Together”
Hear Katelyn Galloway reading “A Plastic Pollution Nursery Rhyme”
Hear Gretchen Bonea reading “A Love of the Ocean”
Hear Hannah Green reading “Make A Difference”

HIGH SCHOOL POETRY

1st Place: Tara Ryan (Foss)

2nd Place: Rosemary Sissel (Foss)

3rd Place: Henry Johnson (Stadium)

Nathan Carter (Lincoln); Malachi Henderson (Lincoln); Alaisea Tuitoelau (Lincoln); D’Angelo Marcano (Lincoln); Shaun Dupree (Lincoln); Daniel Walker (Lincoln); Makesha Conzuelo (Foss); Jenovic Luzolo (Lincoln); Syncear Loyd (Lincoln); Emahjahnay Manley (Lincoln)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.
Scroll to hear finalists read their poems aloud.

Hear finalists read poems

Hear Tara Ryan read “Ocean Ode”
Hear Jenovic Luzolo reading “Ocean” in English
Hear Jenovic Luzolo reading “Ocean” in French
Hear Rosemary Sissel reading “Ocean Op-Ed: Limericks”
Hear Henry Johnson reading “The Ocean is a Heart”
Hear Makesha Conzuelo reading “Hear”

Congratulations, all 2019 finalists!

MIDDLE SCHOOL POETRY

1st Place: Zach Shelver (homeschool) – “1981-2040”

2nd Place: Mackenzie Walker (Truman) – “My Unique Commute”

3rd Place: Tristan Castillo (Chief Leschi) – “Orca Body Dead Calf”

Finalists: Niko Ayala (Jason Lee), Gretchen Bonea & Katelyn Galloway (Jason Lee), Zoe Lockley (Jason Lee), Freda Nichols (Chief Leschi), Tameem Sarwary (Chief Leschi), Charlotte Southworth (Truman), Quinn Sukys (Jason Lee)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.

HIGH SCHOOL POETRY

1st Place: Rosemary Sissel (Foss) – “Slices of Ocean”

2nd Place: Syncear Loyd (Lincoln) – “Ripple Effect”

3rd Place: Nelly Ramos-Laguna (Bellarmine) – “Hidden Below”

Finalists: Annika Christensen (Annie Wright), Hadyn Fernholz-Hartman (Stadium), McKenna Logan (Bellarmine), Bianka Roberts (Lincoln), Hye Seung Lee (Bellarmine), Keven Sum (Lincoln), Aaliyah Walton (Lincoln)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.

2018 finalists

MIDDLE SCHOOL POETRY

Lucy Kang (Jason Lee); Alisi Letuli (Jason Lee); Whitney Lopez (Jason Lee); Michelle Mendoza (Jason Lee); Jackson Noonan (Jason Lee); Lymiaya Phillips (Jason Lee); Raquel Riles (Jason Lee); Elliot Smith (Jason Lee); Jeremy Stave (Jason Lee); Katie White (Jason Lee)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.

HIGH SCHOOL POETRY

Grace Amdal (Oakland); Alexis Ballardo (Lincoln); Bailey Black (Annie Wright); Nay’shawn Bryant (Lincoln); Justice Carmichael (Lincoln); Madeline Christensen (Bellarmine); Lincoln Coulter-Peterson/Deven Patel (Bellarmine); Sarah Espinoza (Lincoln); Keven Sum (Lincoln); Gabrielle Talley (Mt. Tahoma)

Click on a poem below to open it and read.