Haiku Fest will award certificates to all participating student poets. Thanks to over 2,000 poets, parents and teachers for making Haiku Fest successful. For more information on the event, click here.

We proudly announce the following commendations:

First Prize: $100

Dancing on the roof
Being watched through the window
Do not tell Lily

Korbin Carnegie, Age 13, Grade 8
University of Chicago Lab School


Second Prize: $50

Remember Papa?
In the morning we ate prunes.
I mourn over him.

Jason Morris, Age 12, Grade 7
Morris Home School, Chicago


Third Prize: $25

Chasing squirrels up trees
digging up bones in the yard
cats scurry away

Dinah Hayes, Age 10, Grade 4
St. Benedict Elementary, Chicago


Gwendolyn Brooks Award: $25

Day in and day out,
We are all stuck in repeat,
Waiting our escape.

Alexa Hernandez, Age 13, Grade 8
Richard Yates Elementary, Chicago


Founders Award: $20

acoustic love notes
feelings written in a song
someone’s broken heart

Lauren O’Neil, Age 14, Grade 8
St. Damian, Oak Forest, IL

Honorable Mention:

Horses by the beach
Riding through the crystal waves
Searching for their homes

Kara Jackson, Age 13, Grade 7
Mount Carmel Academy, Chicago


Honorable Mention:

Purples rule the sky
Yellow and oranges mourn
Sunsets make me dream!

Gracie Kubelka, Age 11, Grade 5
St. Daniel the Prophet, Chicago


Honorable Mention:

I grow in your grass
People say I am a weed
Blow me and seeds fly

Angela Whiting, Age 11, Grade 6
St. Ethelreda, Chicago


Honorable Mention:

Green clothes and red hair
Annoying little person
Enjoys lots of gold!

Michael Molloy, Age 8, Grade 3
St. Benedict Elementary, Chicago


Honorable Mention:

Rubble everywhere
Bodies lying in the street
There’s nothing to drink

Bart Coyle, Age 14, Grade 8
Mount Carmel Academy, Chicago


Honorable Mention:

Painted eyes, red lips
I put on my face today
And saw a stranger

Erin M. Monforti, Age 12, Grade 6
St. Cornelius, Chicago

Honorable Mention:

Chill winds blow softly
Creeping under my doorway
Like a cat hunting

Avery Broome, Age 13, Grade 8
Sacred Heart School, Chicago


Teacher of the Year:

Ms. Joann Serafin
St. Daniel the Prophet, Chicago


Honorable Mention for Teacher of the Year:

Ms. Diane Husar
John L. Marsh Elementary, Chicago


Honorable Mention for Teacher of the Year:

Mr. Frasser Coffeen
St. Agnes of Bohemia, Chicago


School of the Year:

St. Daniel the Prophet, Chicago
Ms. Joann Serafin, Ms. Laski


Honorable Mention for School of the Year:

St. Benedict Elementary, Chicago
Ms. Amy McCue, Ms. Amy Miller, Ms. Desiree Gentile,
Ms. Janet Olson, Ms. Melissa Geisler,
Ms. Shannon Brusca, Ms. Yvonne Grabe


Honorable Mention for School of the Year:

St. Christina, Chicago
Ms. Joan Baley