Haiku Fest awarded certificates to all participating student poets. Thanks to over 2,800 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
Eyes of Medusa
The heat of my smile turned cold
And my heart a stone
Vontrice Bobo, Age 13, Grade 8
Charles Gates Dawes Elementary, Chicago
Second Prize: $75
The air has new verve
Men topple their inertia
With candid vigor
Jacob Mazzarella, Age 14, Grade 8
University of Chicago Lab School
Third Prize: $25
Never say you can’t
Learn to dance during the storm
Don’t you dare give up
Andrea Banda, Age 12, Grade 6
St. Daniel the Prophet, Chicago
Gwendolyn Brooks Award: $25
soft leaves on the ground
the bugs are sleeping on them
cozy beetles rest
Mackenzie Webb, Age 9, Grade 3
Michael M. Byrne Elementary, Chicago
Founders Award: $20
Alligator strong
Powerful in deep water,
As a pair of shoes.
Jordan Redd, Age 10, Grade 4
Rudyard Kipling Elementary, Chicago
Poems of the World Spring Award: $50
The beauty of Spring
Smells of grass so crisp and clean
Leaves so thin and lean
Joseph Raphael Castro, Age 10, Grade 4
High Point Elementary, Orland Park
Poems of the World Summer Award: $50
Art is amazing
Like the freedom of summer
Art brings warmth in me
D’Asja Colbert, Age 14, Grade 8
St. Ethelreda, Chicago
Honorable Mention:
Flutter velvet wings
harmless sparrow seeks the light,
The fresh sprout of spring.
Tatiana Gawrit, Age 14, Grade 8
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy, Chicago
Honorable Mention:
Each night the moon man
Takes a flame and lights the stars
As we look skywards
Sarah Stouffer-Lerch, Age 12, Grade 6
DeForest Middle School, Waunakee, WI
Honorable Mention:
Like pen on paper
An emotion for us both
Draped in silent hope
Rachel Schonbaum, Age 13, Grade 7
University of Chicago Lab School
Honorable Mention:
Standing on a cliff,
Feeling the breeze in my hair,
Am I free at last?
Quinn Whisler, Age 11, Grade 5
St. Cornelius, Chicago
Honorable Mention:
Leaves fall to the ground
The trees they scream to us that
they are not dead yet
Dorian Weir, Age 13, Grade 7
Roycemore School, Evanston
Poem of the School Award
Cherry blossom trees
Bending over a walkway.
Bright pink petals fall.
Joanne Crowley, Age 13, Grade 7
Annunciata Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
In the nest it rocks.
Cracking open,cr-ur-ack.
Eating worms from mom.
Jesus Salgado, Age 9, Grade 3
Avondale-Logandale Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
One day there was rain
It’s frozen, now a cold sleet
Fingertips freezing
Andrew Guiterrez, Age 11, Grade 5
Courtenay Language Arts Center, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
So clear and silent.
Sun beaming on the surface.
Too quiet to swim.
Jackie Tran, Age 10, Grade 5
Daniel Boone Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
People go to pools.
you do not need to shower
I enjoy french fries
Joseph Schlee, Age 9, Grade 4
Eliza Chappell Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
Standard normal way
Box, answer, lattice method
You have math knowledge
Leilani Martinez, Age 10, Grade 5
Enrico Tonti Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
a withering pearl
is nothing but a shadow
underneath the sea
Joanna Gonzalez, Age 14, Grade 8
Ferdinand Peck Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
Silver linings lost
Roaming around hopelessly
Settles over roofs
Lora Faraj, Age 13, Grade 8
Jamieson Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
July’s blazing sun
The grass flying out the dirt
The really fun month
Angel Martinez, Age 10, Grade 5
John T. McCutcheon Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
dripping sweat, waxed floor
orange basketball goes swoosh
big horn eeeech, we won!!!
Abdulkabir Yahya, Age 12, Grade 6
Josephine C. Locke Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
The enormous sun
Blazing through the big blue sky
Trying to be free
Calvin Golden, Age 13, Grade 8
Langston Hughes Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
The grass is pretty
The sun is setting downhill
I feel like the clouds.
Devantae Moore, Age 11, Grade 5
Myra Bradwell Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
Wading in the lake
Thirsty in the windless heat
Popsicles dripping
Hannah O’Koon, Age 13, Grade 7
Roycemore School, Evanston
Poem of the School Award
Frost bites call victims
Hot chocolate burns their throats
The snow is blinding
Brooke Hudson, Age 13, Grade 8
Ruben Salazar Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
Colorful flowers
Their green stems sway, side to side
They are a beauty
Andrea Roa, Age 9, Grade 4
Sacred Heart School – 96th, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
When I call my pop
He talks about the storm, zap!
But I don’t mind much
Daniel Hinojosa, Age 12, Grade 6
Salmon P. Chase Elementary, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
The smell of fresh turf
Pig skin flung high in the air
Just scored a touchdown
Ja’Quaviez Houston, Age 13, Grade 8
St. Agatha Catholic Academy, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
The ocean is calm
It has never seen a storm
as the water speaks
Nathan DeLuna, Age 13, Grade 7
St. Bartholomew, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
Flurries rushing down
kids running on the blanket
here comes the winter
Alexis Chambers, Age 14, Grade 8
St. Christina, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
I whisper to him
I close my eyes and believe
Prayer is my escape
Joe Klaw, Age 11, Grade 5
St. Cornelius, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
Framed vivid painting
Lonely sailboat on the lake
People partying
Sarah Cardia, Age 11, Grade 5
St. Francis Borgia, Chicago
Poem of the School Award
In the summer air
A stream flows by its sound flows
While the birds sing high
Lissette Hernandez, Age 11, Grade 5
St. Viator, Chicago
Teacher of the Year:
Ms. Joann Serafin
St. Daniel the Prophet, Chicago
Honorable Mention for Teacher of the Year:
Ms. Joan Baley
St. Christina, Chicago
Ms. Melody Farmer
Rudyard Kipling Elementary, Chicago
School of the Year:
St. Daniel the Prophet, Chicago
Ms. Joann Serafin
Honorable Mention for School of the Year:
University of Chicago Lab School
Ms. Kathleen Bressler, Ms. Peggy Doyle,
Mr. Joseph Drogos, Ms. Staci Garner,
Ms. Lisa Miller, Mr. Sam Nekrosius,
Ms. Jan Yourist
St. Christina, Chicago
Ms. Joan Baley