Student Poetry Contest Winners
Click any year to see the winners for that year as well as read the winning poetry entries:
GRAND CHAMPIONS Category A 1st Calissa Wong, E.M. Baker Elementary School – My Life’s Winding Road 2nd Thomas Yeamans, Mount Sinai Elementary School – Wanderlust 3rd Deepika Joshi, Burns Avenue School – Field of Flowers Category B 1st Annabel Xu, Barron Park Elementary, Palo Alto, CA – Pictures 2nd Nolan Berry, Tuckahoe Common Middle School– The Southern Road 3rd Daniel Garcia, The Laurel Hill School– Life’s Surprises Category C 1st Shreya Satpathy, W.T. Clarke Middle School – In Hopes of Finding Myself Once More 2nd Ziya Yin, P.J. Galinas Junior High School – They Call Her Liberty 3rd Stephanie Green, Bay Shore Middle School – A One-Way Journey Category D 1st Jacob Torczyner, David Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys – Grass 2nd Allen Sinai, Manhasset Secondary School – The Winding Path 3rd William Pereira, Manhasset Secondary School – Arboraceous Wanderer
Category E 1st Jiwan Kim, Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY – 4:00 AM Tuesdays at the Airport 2nd Rina Olsen, St. John’s School, Guam – anatomy of a hodophile
3rd Damaris Sumba Lliguin, Bellport High School – Onions
Category G (Class Anthology Grades 3-4) Ms. Lopez, Birch School, grades 3-4 – Birch Pages Writing Club Category I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8) Nicole Pomaro, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 9 – Our Journeys Category J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10) Clare Chotiner, Hicksville High School, Grade 9, Period 3 – Alliance poétique! Category K (Class Anthology Grades 11-12) Deirdre Faughey, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 2 – The Road of Desire Category L (Multi-Media, Visual Poetry) Madison Kelly, Mount Sinai Middle School – A Journey into the Unknown ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honorable Mentions CATEGORY A (Individual Poem Grades 3-4) Addison Bernstein, Mount Sinai Elementary School – Gaia’s Land Annabelle Silecchia, Connolly Elementary School – My Path Christopher Rahner, Birchwood Intermediate School – The Open Road Desi Schmuhl, Saint Ann’s School – Outstretching Land Gabriel Marano, Trinity Regional School – Song of a Rocky Mountain John Bailey, The Laurel Hill School – The Soccer Champ Maggie Rubin, North Side Elementary School – The Road of Life CATEGORY B (Individual Poem Grades 5-6) Brendan Doyle, Tuckahoe Common Middle School – The Open Road of No Stress Cathleen Annello, St. Dominic Elementary – Where I Want to Go Emily Gravitz, Lakeville Elementary School – Golden Hour Grace-Marie Jones, Holy Child Academy – The Joys of Travel Janae Henry, The Laurel Hill School – The Foggy Road Noora Ahmed, Bay Shore Middle School – No Other Way for Me Oorja Anand Singh, Roslyn Middle School- Towards the Ever Blazing Sun Parnav Chadha, Burns Avenue School – On the Old Valley Weizheng Evalyn Chen, West Lafayette Intermediate School, Indiana – Farther CATEGORY C (Individual Poem Grades 7-8) Alexa Surdi, Mount Sinai Middle School– Storm Ariel Ruggiero, Springs School – Dense Air Evelyn Saunders, Friends Academy - Colors of the Open Road Gianna Fitzpatrick, Wantagh Middle School– Belly of the Beast Janis Fok, Great Neck South Middle School, My Forged Path Nicole Kolasny, Saint Aidan School – The Journey of Life Nora Aziz, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Untitled Patrick Baynon, Holy Child Academy – North Wind Pinar Isildak, P.J. Gelinas Junior High School– Through a path with… Sara Martella, St. Dominic Elementary and Middle School – The Closed Road Yuri Montas, Floral Park Memorial High School – Shards CATEGORY D (Individual Poem Grades 9-10) Alexis Thomas, Manhasset Secondary School – Unbound AnaLuz Ferrer, Oyster Bay High School – My Road Is Me Giuliana DePaola, Floral Park Memorial High School – Hello Grace Kuskowski, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Story of My Life Isabella Fernandim, Sacred Heart Academy – The Ballad of Footsteps Madison Bruck, Manhasset Secondary School – Echoes of Abandoned Dreams Matilda Saltiel, POB JFK High School – Journey of the Open Road Sebastian Song, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – The Road of Life Thomas Matranga, Chaminade High School – Nature’s Road Veronica Qiu, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, CA – Retrace CATEGORY E (Individual Poem Grades 11-12) Alissa Olivera, North Babylon High School – A woman’s “open road” Andrew Fogel, Walt Whitman High School – i am free jazz Aurelia Turano, Walt Whitman High School – Keys or Gate Benjamin Wang, Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, CA – Road Trip to 2014 Elaina Li, Roslyn High School – loose change Evan Wang, Upper Merion High School, King of Prussia, PA – Buddhism in the Morning Jeffrey Valle, Walt Whitman High School – 9 and a half John Zsamboky, Chaminade High School – th(ink) Nuala Mernin, Saint Ann’s School – Domesticated Poetry Olivia Robitsek, Ward Melville High School – Destiny; Manifested Sarah Sun, Great Neck South High School – to walk the poet road CATEGORY I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8) Karl O’Leary, Sodus Central School District, Grade 8, Period 6 – Sailing Spartans: A Collection of Off-Beat Journeys Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 3 – Where the Road Ends Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 7 – The Door to Dreams Nicole Pomaro, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 4 – Away We Go Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 6 – Encounters on Life’s Road CATEGORY J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10) Melissa Martin, Eastport-South Manor Jr/Sr High School, Period 1 – Vastness Shannon Murphy, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 9, Period 3 – Paths Unpaved Shannon Murphy, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 9, Period 6 – Avenues Await CATEGORY K (Class Anthology Grades 11-12)
Deirdre Faughey, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 4, The Next Road Maria Kim, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 1 – Road Conditions Maria Kim, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 8 – Sunshowers CATEGORY L (Multi-Media) Madison Kelly, Mount Sinai Middle School – A Journey into the Unknown
GRAND CHAMPIONS
Category A
Emily Gravitz, Lakeville Elementary School – Emily’s Poem
Category B
Alexeen Dillon, The Laurel Hill School – I Was Born with Autumn’s Leaves
Category C
Rebecca Henneman, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – Untitled
Category D
Rina Olsen, St. John’s School, Guam – house of cards
Category D
Ava Kuklis, Westhampton Beach High School – I am
Category E
Rainer Pasca, Bay Shore High School – sixth period
Category E
Hannah Ninan, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Traveling Pots
Category F (Individual Anthology)
Christina Pan, POB JFK High School – Whispers Across The Fields
Category G (Class Anthology Grades 3-4)
Deborah Zucaro, Fort Salonga Elementary School, Grade 3 – Glitter Upon Mountains
Category I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8)
Nicole Pomaro, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 2 – About Us
Category J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)
Shannon Murphy, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 9, Period 3 – Multitudes of Us
Category K (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)
Diedre Faughey, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 2 – Letters Unsent
Category L (Multi-Media, Visual Poetry)
Malia Lockhart, Mount Sinai Middle School – My Hair
Category L (Multi-Media, Video Poetry) https://youtu.be/KLNG8dpYmuI
Paige Sweeney, Oyster Bay High School – There is Time
CATEGORY A (Individual Poem Grades 3-4)
Julian Carazo, Mills Pond Elementary School – The Poem of Me
John Connors, Mount Sinai Elementary School – Tumbled
Valerie Kong, AP Willits Elementary School – All About Me
Nolan Maliszewski, Mills Pond Elementary School – Song of Myself
Michael Marchello, Judy Jacobs-Parkway Elementary School – All About Me
Amisha Pahar, Burns Avenue School – I’m Me
Radhiki Prajapati, Burns Avenue School – This is Me, Beautiful Me
Maggie Rubin, North Side School – A Song of My Contradictions
Aria Russell, Southampton Elementary School – Life is Our Journey
Ava Sprague, Mount Sinai Elementary School – Me!
Calissa Wong, E.M. Baker Elementary School – Habits of My Life
CATEGORY B (Individual Poem Grades 5-6)
Samia Ahmed, Bay Shore Middle School – Your Mom
Zainab Chowdhury, WT Clarke Middle School – Flaws and Awes
Ford Duchatelier, Bay Shore Middle School – Essence of My Being
Daniel Garcia, The Laurel Hill School – Containing Multitudes
Ava Grello, Bay Shore Middle School – A Dad I Never Knew
Yael Mozes, The Laurel Hill School – Cracked and Crumbled
Zaynab Najimi, Sunquam Elementary School – Who I Am
Riley Wagner, Edward J. Bosti Elementary School- You and I
Lauren Wells, JFK Elementary School, West Babylon – Friends and Me
Elizabeth Wilkinson, The Laurel Hill School – Inside the Nutshell
CATEGORY C (Individual Poem Grades 7-8)
Ally Angell, WT Clarke Middle School – Anywhere
Kiana Bonifacio, Tuckahoe Common Middle School – Crochet
Amartya Das, Robert Cushman Murphy Junior High School, Endless Flow
Emmanuel Halkias, Manhasset Middle School – Evolving
Allie Harrison, Gelinas Junior High School, My Knot of Life
Andalucia Navetta, Wantagh Middle School – Fraud
Anna Regan, Weber Middle School – Puzzle
Sienna Rodriguez, Manhasset Middle School – Right Where You Left Me
Isabelle Rubino, Mount Siani Middle School – Healing Tree
Koharu Sato, Manhasset Middle School – My Name
Jacob Torczyner, Hebrew Academy – Unaware
Valerie Torres, Spring School – Reflection
Oliver Won, Great Neck South Middle School – The Multitudes
Nancy Yu, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Bird and Me
CATEGORY D (Individual Poem Grades 9-10)
Anika Amin, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – A Mosaic
Hannah Bahn, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – Paper Cranes
Sophia Bergeron, South Lyon East High School, Michigan – Me, Moment
Colleen Carroll, Eastport-South – Sister
AnnaBelle Deaner, Half Hollow Hills East HS – Unabated Passion
Giuliana DePaola, Floral Park High School – Ink, Coffee & Postage Stamps
Isabella Fernandim, Sacred Heart Academy – To know You is to Know Me
Anelisa Fulgieri, C. Mepham High School – Home
Emilin George, New Hyde Park High School – American
Isabella Gonzalez, Long Beach High School – The Beauty of the World
Cate Grady, Sacred Heart Academy – Girl of Sand
Rachel Ha, Herricks High School – Even Blue Has Multitudes
Isabella Kohl, Roslyn High School – Jew(ish)
Caitlin Lee, Herricks High School – Spear of Summer Grass
Julia Milos, Oyster Bay High Schgool – All and More
Vladimir Mkrtchian, C. Mepham High School – Jazve
Arianna Muhammad, New Hyde Park High School – Memories of Mine
Rizwan Rumi, New Hyde Park High School – Bulletproof
Natalia Sanchez, Smithtown High School – Goldfish
Ashna Shah, Syosset High School – Unheard Melody
Siddhanth Surya, New Hyde Park High School – A Long Way to Go
Jaclyn Xue, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School – If I were Free
CATEGORY E (Individual Poem Grades 11-12)
Lyla Forest Butler, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – Burn Scars
Lyla Forest Butler, Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn – This is All You Need to Know
Luis Covera, Uniondale High School – Happiness
Seth Del Orbe, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Terrible, Just Awful
Adelrhay Georges, Walt Whitman High School – The Vine That Swallowed the South
Queenie Liu, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Places Visited
Adelyn Loh, Herricks High School – Burdens
Paige MacPherson, Walt Whitman High School – The War of Individuality
Candida Villalta Meza, Walt Whitman High School – Fluid
Allison Xu, Walter Johnson High School, Maryland – Sky Lanterns
Emily Grace Zabala, New Hyde Park Memorial High School – Multitudes
CATEGORY I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8)
Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 8 – Everyone’s Story
Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 7 – Listen To Who I Am
Kelly Doran, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 3 – Chapters of Life
Nicole Pomaro, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 9 – The Many Parts That Make Us Whole
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 7, Period 1 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 2 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 3 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 9 – A Multitude of Poems
Nicole Wallace, Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 6 – A Multitude of Poems
CATEGORY J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)
Melissa Martin, Eastport South Manor CSD – We Are Multitudes
Nicole Junjulas, Massapequa High School – Beauty and Grace in All Things
CATEGORY K (Class Anthology Grades 11-12)
Colleen Cho, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School, Grade 11, Period 2, I Encompass Worlds
Colleen Cho, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School, Grade 11, Period 4, Versions of Myself
Deirdre Faughey, Oyster Bay High School, Grade 11, Period 4 – A Melodic Escape
Melissa Martin, Eastport South Manor High School, Grade 11, Period 5 – All Shapes and Sizes
CATEGORY L (Multi-Media)
Lilly Dejesus, Mount Sinai Middle School – Only Me
Maiya Staudt, Mount Sinai Middle School – The Pursuit
Dear Poets,
We are proud to see so many gifted young people writing poetry!
This year we received over 2,500 entries for our 32nd Annual Young Poets Contest. The theme for 2018 was based on Walt’s theme of “Tribute”. A panel of three judges selected approximately 100 winners in 11 Categories designated by grade levels. Of the 11 categories, 6 categories represent individual writers and 5 categories represent class anthologies.
The 6 individual categories each have a Grand Champion winner. We post the Grand Champion’s name and winning poem on our website. Due to privacy constraints, we do not post the other winners’ names.
We congratulate all winners for 2018! We encourage you to participate again next year.
Thank you! Keep Writing!
Sincerely,
Cynthia Shor
Executive Director
Grand Champions – Click any underlined title to download
Category A – Individual Poem – Grades 3 & 4
Bailey Brett / “Ode to the Night”
Laurel Hill School
Category B – Individual Poem – Grades 5 & 6
Saint Ann’s School
Category C – Individual Poem – Grades 7 & 8
Grand Avenue Middle School
Kara Kokolakis / “The Place of Laughter and Tears”
Mount Sinai Middle School
Katriel Murphy / “The Police Officer”
Sewanhaka High School
Category E – Individual Poem – Grade 11 & 12
Sarah Lewis / “Flight Feather”
Hall High School
Category F – Individual Anthology 3-12
Daniella Graffeo / “Praise for the Past”
Mount Sinai High School
Category G – Class Anthology – Grades 3 & 4
Mrs. Shari Zindman / Tribute
Locust Valley Intermediate School
Category H – Class Anthology – Grades 5 & 6
Ms. Linda Lebowitz / Musical Popcorn Eat Poems, Pop By Pop (Inspired by Jimi Hendrix)
Shore Road School
Category I – Class Anthology- Grades 7 & 8
Mrs. Wallace / Tributes to Life’s Treasures, Volume One
Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 3
Mrs. Wallace / Tributes to Life’s Treasures, Volume Two
Mount Sinai Middle School, Grade 8, Period 4
Category J – Class Anthology – Grades 9 & 10
Mrs. April Zabinsky / Our Anthology of Tributes
North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, Grade 9, Period 3
Mr. Kenny / Our Tributes
W.T. Clarke High School, Grade 10, Period 1
Category K – Class Anthology – Grades 11 & 12
Ms. Elyse Bedell / Unspeakably Perfect Miracles
Connetquot High School
Category L – Multi-media Grades 3-12
Mrs. Rand/ Ms. Rubenstein/ “A Child Floats Down a River of Dreams”
JFK Middle School
Dear Poets,
Students submitted over 2,700 entries in our Thirty-First Annual Student Poetry Contest of 2017. We are proud to see so many talented students writing poetry! Listed are the Grand Champions for each category. There are also 5–10 additional winners in each category that are not listed.
Please join us Sunday, June 4th, 2017 from 12–2PM, at the Walt Whitman Birthplace to celebrate your writing excellence. State Senator Carl Marcellino and Huntington Town Councilwoman Susan Berland will offer congratulatory remarks. Grand Champions will read their winning poems. All winners will receive a certificate and a gift bag prize.
Thank you and congratulations!
Sincerely,
Cynthia Shor
Executive Director
Grand Champions – Click any underlined title to download
Category A- Individual Poem- Grades 3 & 4
Tessse Burke/ “A Beautiful Song, a Beautiful Sound”
Bosti Elementary School
Category B – Individual Poem- Grades 5 & 6
Muskan Kumar/ “I Dreamed a Dream of a Brand New World”
Wisdom Lane Middle School
Category C – Individual Poem- Grades 7 & 8
Nathan Barry/ “The City That Was Mine”
The Laurel Hill School
Category D – Individual Poem- Grades 9 & 10
North Shore Hebrew Academy High School
Category E – Individual Poem- Grade 11 & 12
Sophia Takvorian/ “Tall Grass”
Manhasset High School
Category F – Individual Anthology 3–12
Christian Ramos/ “The Thoughts of a Quiet One”
Longwood High School
Category G – Class Anthology- Grades 3 & 4
Mrs. Shari Zindman / “DREAMS”
Locust Valley Intermediate School
Category H – Class Anthology- Grades 5 & 6
Ms. Christina Tambini/ “Dreams”
South Country School
Category I – Class Anthology- Grades 7 & 8
Mr. Karl O’Leary/ “Dreams Devoured”
Richard T. Stank Middle School
Category J – Class Anthology- Grades 9 & 10
Mrs. April Zabinsky/ “We Dream, Today and Everyday”
North Shore Hebrew Academy High School
Category K – Class Anthology- Grades 11 & 12
Ms. Ellen Michael/ “…but I’m not the only one”
Longwood High School
Category L – Multi-media Grades 3–12
Mrs. Rand/ Ms. Rubenstein/ “A Child Floats Down a River of Dreams”
JFK Middle School
Grand Champions – Click any underlined title to download
Category A – Grades 3 & 4
Ivy League School
Category B – Grades 5 & 6
Marc David Nichitiu/ “I Once Flew with Light”
The Laurel Hill School
Category C – Grades 7 & 8
Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School
Category D – Grades 9 & 10
Bianca Zhou/ “Paper is All Trees”
Dougherty Valley High School
Category E – Grade 11 & 12
Nathalie Esther Amazan/ “Intertwined Cosmos”
Grace Christian Academy
Category F – Individual Anthology 3–12
Amani Hafeez/ “A Child Went Forth”
John F. Kennedy Middle School
Category G – Grades 3 & 4
Mrs. Shari Zindman / “There was a Child Went Forth”
John F. Kennedy Middle School
Category H – Grades 5 & 6
Mrs. Rand/ Ms. Rubenstein/ “There was a Child Went Forth”
John F. Kennedy Middle School
Category I – Grades 7 & 8
Mr. Karl O’Leary/ “The Essence of Me”
Mt. Sinai Middle School
Category J – Grades 9 & 10
Mrs. Papaccio/ “The Grand Garden of Blooming Lives”
Sewanhaka High School- Period 9
Category K – Grade 11 & 12
Kathleen Crimmins/ “Origins”
Sewanhaka High School- Period 3
Category L – Multi-media 3-12
Mt. Sinai Middle School
Click any underlined author to download
Category A – Grades 3 & 4
Alanna Wu / “Dear Mother Cloud”
The Laurel Hill School
Category B – Grades 5 & 6
Colin Muessig / “The Elegant Earth”
Wisdom Lane Middle School
Category C – Grades 7 & 8
Sarah Morgenthal / “I Run – A Fire Poem”
Plainview – Old Bethpage Middle School
Category D – Grades 9 & 10
Isabelle Scott / “A Tes Souhaites”
Ward Melville High School
Category E – Grades 11 & 12
Eleni Aneziris / “The Spark of the Sun”
Ward Melville High School
Category F – Grades 3 & 4
Mrs. Shari Zindman / “The Voice of Elements”
Locust Valley Intermediate School
Category G – Grades 5 & 6
Mrs. Rand & Miss Casey / “Behold the Elements”
JFK Middle School
Category H – Grades 7 & 8
Mr. Karl O’Leary / “Nature is Always With Me”
Mt. Sinai Middle School – Period 3
Category I – Grades 9 & 10
Mr. Mark Kenny / “Aspects of Power”
W.T. Clarke High School – Period 6
Category J – Grades 11 & 12
Mrs. Sullivan / “Elemental Voices”
Patchogue Medford High School – Period 2
Category K – Multi-Media
Lindsay Stancampiano / “Alive”
Mt. Sinai Middle School
Category L – Individual Anthology
Amani Hafeez / “Song of the Elements”
JFK Middle School
Click any underlined author to download
Category A – Individual poem grades 3–4
Violet Rand
“The Song of the Tap Shoes”
Category B – Individual poem grades 5–6
Kenny Silver
“Cat’s Lullaby”
Category C – Individual poem grades 7–8
Ashley Luo
“Golden Melodies”
Category D – Individual poem grades 9–10
Jocelyn Cheng
“Reasons”
Category E – Individual poem grades 11–12
Tianru Wang
“Magnificent Day”
Category K – Multimedia
Tatianna Spotorno
“Cello“
Category L – Individual Anthology
Crystal Huang
“Golden Concerto”
