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.

We proudly announce the following commendations for participants in grades 7 and 8:

First Prize: $100

The centipede crawls
across a crumbled gravestone,
ignorant of fate.

Abe Callard, Age 14, Grade 8
University of Chicago Lab School


Second Prize: $50

My brush, to the page
black splotches, endless laments
of tormented minds

Jonathan Liu, Age 14, Grade 8
University of Chicago Lab School


Third Prize: $20

Eyes of lucid blue
Mistaken for salty tides
Find myself drowning

Tenzin Karma, Age 13, Grade 8
University of Chicago Lab School

Poem of the School Award

Chaotic loudness
Swallowed in endless plain white
Aching to escape

Madelyn Fay, Age 13, Grade 7
Plum Grove Junior High, Palatine, IL


Poem of the School Award

the flowers will bloom
Springtime’s around the corner
no more winter gloom

Asia Howard, Age 12, Grade 7
St. Angela, Chicago


Poem of the School Award

I am a fruit bat
Give me those bananas now
Sweet and delicious

Jayden Edwards, Age 14, Grade 8
St. Sylvester (tie), Chicago


Poem of the School Award

Roses are not brown
Violets are not orange
Love stories are sad

Leila Gomez, Age 14, Grade 8
St. Sylvester (tie), Chicago


Poem of the School Award

I envy the wind
because it goes everywhere
more places than me

Sarah Isa, Age 12, Grade 7
St. Thomas of Canterbury, Chicago


Honorable Mention

A shadow of doubt
A whisper of all the hurt
A scream of silence

Aashka Trivedi, Age 13, Grade 7
Avery Coonley School, Downers Grove, IL


Honorable Mention

Ice-cream and Netflix
Watching my favorite shows
Eating and binging

Dzeneta Redzovic, Age 14, Grade 8
Passages Charter School, Chicago


Honorable Mention

Such tedious days
Following routines by rote
Feeling like caged souls

Ashley Zielinski, Age 13, Grade 8
St. Francis Borgia, Chicago


Honorable Mention

Rocks bathe in the sun
Warm to fleshy touch of life
Waves snuff out the flames

Abigail Leyden, Age 13, Grade 7
St. Mary of the Woods, Chicago


Honorable Mention

It’s slender body
Dragging across the black floor
Leaving trails of white

Taig Singh, Age 13, Grade 8
University of Chicago Lab School

Teacher of the Year:

Ms. Rebecca Grober
John Haines Elementary, Chicago


Teacher of the Year Honorable Mention:

Ms. Nilsa Lopezlena
Avondale-Logandale Elementary, Chicago


Teacher of the Year Honorable Mention:

Ms. Mindy Gonzalez
Josephine Locke Elementary, Chicago


School of the Year:

Josephine Locke Elementary, Chicago

Ms. Mindy Gonzalez
Ms. Kristina Jubera
Ms. Joann Hernandez


School of the Year Honorable Mention:

John Haines Elementary, Chicago

Ms. Rebecca Grober
Ms. Angela Twillie
Dr. Bellasanta Ferrer
Ms. Anna Khawam
Ms. Becky Yau
Ms. Yi Li Ruan


School of the Year Honorable Mention:

University of Chicago Lab School

Ms. Staci Garner
Ms. Lisa Miller
Ms. Peggy Doyle
Ms. Lisa Sukenic
Mr. Joseph Drogos
Mr. Sam Nekrosius
Ms. Deborah Davis
Mr. Mark Krewatch
Ms. Stephanie Mitzenmacher