Haiku Fest awarded certificates to all participating student poets. Thanks to over 2,000 poets, parents and teachers for making Haiku Fest successful. Winning entries are listed below.

First Prize: $100

Birds go out shopping
They go to the garden store
Buy frozen worm soup

Adaeze Uduko, Age 9, Grade 4
Passages Charter School, Chicago


Second Prize: $50

The rose is like fire
Beautiful as a diamond
Elegant as blood

Santos Baez, Age 10, Grade 4
Sacred Heart – 96th Street, Chicago


Third Prize: $20

A dream running through
A sea of vibrant colors
Lying on the ground

David D. Garza, Age 9, Grade 4
Sacred Heart – 96th Street, Chicago


Founder Award

Benches wait for trains
Clocks twirl their curly mustache
The floor lying down

Fumnanya Nwabudike, Age 10, Grade 4
Passages Charter School, Chicago

Poem of the School Award

spring finally came
the coldness was just a shame
flowers bloom and grow

Evie Jensen, Age 10, Grade 4
High Point Elementary, Orland Park


Poem of the School Award

flying through your dreams
floating through your imagination
falling back to bed

Emma Tostado, Age 9, Grade 4
St Viator, Chicago


Honorable Mention

The rain likes to hum
when it hits the cement ground
with a singing tone

Jeremiah Chalwe, Age 10, Grade 4
Passages Charter School, Chicago


Honorable Mention

The leaves change their moods.
The wind pushes them away.
The ground steals them all.

Julian Rios, Age 10, Grade 4
Passages Charter School, Chicago

Teacher of the Year:

Ms. Nilsa Lopezlena
Avondale-Logandale Elementary, Chicago


School of the Year:

Josephine Locke Elementary, Chicago
Ms. Mindy Gonzalez,
Ms. Moyers