We are so excited to announce the overall winners and finalists of our very first National Poetry Month youth poetry contest. We are including the winning poem from each group in this post, and we will have all of the finalists’ poems up on our website to read in the days to come.

A huge thank you to the wonderful judges from our poetry contest, Clark County Poet Laureate, Heather Lang-Cassera and Las Vegas native poet Alexsis Nueman. We appreciate the time and attention that they gave to being a judge, and are grateful for the feedback they provided. 

Our winners from each group are (the poems appear below):

Overall winner in Group 1, Malea Nishiyama “Deep Sea Adventure” (Faith Lutheran Academy)

Overall winner in Group 2, Kate Shoraga “When I get my world back” (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School)

Overall winner in Group 3, Landon Edwards “When the World Turns Again” (Homeschooled)

The finalists are:

Aspiring Poet (Group 1), NN (Nasri Academy for Gifted Children)

Aspiring Poet (Group 2), Isabelle Yucha (Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon)

Most Inspiring and Best Use of a Metaphor, Katelyn Rosales (Somerset Skye Canyon)

Best Voice with Purpose, Kelly McCloskey (Bob Miller Middle School)

Best Haiku, AG (Nasri Academy for Gifted Children)

Best use of rhyme, Violet Adams (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School)

Best use of rhythm, JF (Nasri Academy for Gifted Children)

Best use of sounds/consonants, OVD (Nasri Academy for Gifted Children)

Best use of imagery, Landon Mageau  (Pinecrest Horizon)

Best use of internal rhyme, AH (Nasri Academy for Gifted Children)

Best use of repetition, Lyric Mahoney (Pinecrest Horizon)

Best use of concrete language, Logan Calhoun (Pinecrest Horizon)

Scroll down to read the winning poems! We will have an update out soon with the time of the Facebook Poetry Reading. Look forward to “seeing” you there, and in the meantime, enjoy these poems!

Deep Sea Adventure 

Malea Nishiyama

Deep in the sea

I’m on a submarine 

I look for treasure

I’m so happy I could sing! 

When I get my world back 

Kate Shoraga

When I get my world back 

I won’t be as blue. 

When I get my world back 

I’ll go somewhere new. 

I’ll go to places, 

New and old. 

I’ll go somewhere different

 Or places untold. 

I’ll go to the mountains 

And look at the view. 

It’s so attractive, 

I’ll snap a picture or two. 

I’ll go to school, 

And get to class. 

I’ll greet my teacher, 

And have fun at last. 

People have died from corona, 

A spreading disease. 

So from now on, 

Cover your cough Please. 

When the World Turns Again

Landon Edwards

A tragedy struck our world,

No longer does it rotate.

All the people hold their breath,

Anxious and fearful they wait.

We’ve had some time to ourselves

To reflect on who we’ve been.

I decided who I’d seek to be

When the world turns again.

I want to be as Paul and Silas,

And all the saints so long ago.

Who, though opposition tried to stop them,

Kept telling others what they know.

These turned the world upside down,

Oh! What an honor it would be!

If someone said these exact words,

Said these words right to me.

But alas! I have not been faithful

In following my Best Friend.

So I won’t hesitate to share

When the world turns again.

When the panic calms itself,

The person I want to see,

Is the very one who needs my Lord,

So that Christ my Lord can use me.

My message is not popular;

This I knew from the start.

Oftentimes I worry much,

And sinking dread fills my heart.

Soon the world will turn again,

But this time in a different way.

For I’ll be bolder to share my faith,

That Jesus died to take sins away.

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