Click here for the winners announced at the reading!
Click here for the finalists, announced March 15!
We invite all K-12 students in Lynchburg and surrounding counties to submit science-based poems to our competition. The top 39 poems will be published in a book, and the top three poems in each grade category and their teachers (if applicable) will win a prize. 2012’s electronic edition of the book can be found here.
For 2013, we had over 1200 poetry submissions! Finalists will be announced here and on the Facebook page by 5 pm, Friday, March 15. Please plan to come to support the finalists at the reception and reading on Friday, March 22, at 6:30 pm in Wimberly Recital Hall, Presser Building, Randolph College.
Qualified participants
All K-12 students are invited to submit a poem to the Randolph College Science Fest Poetry Competition. Students or teachers may submit the poem. We encourage teachers to have their entire class write poems and submit them to the.
Requirements:
The poem must have theme focused on a science or math topic. Any poetry genre may be used, e.g. Haiku, limerick, free form, etc. Poems may be illustrated but only the text will be judged. Poems may be hand written or typed. All poems must be the original work of the student. Only one poem per student.
Submission:
Submissions (with student’s name and grade, and teacher’s name if applicable) may be made any time (the contest is open as of November 1, 2012). Please include a poem title, the student’s name, grade, and school. Submissions by mail must be postmarked by Friday, February 15, 2013. If submitted by mail, we ask that you please e-mail us to let us know how many students’ poems were mailed. Typed or scanned and e-mailed submissions are due by this date also. Submissions should be sent to psheldon@randolphcollege.edu, or Peter Sheldon, Randolph College, 2500 Rivermont Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24503.
Be sure to include contact information: e-mail address, telephone number, and mailing address (for confirmation of receipt, notification of finalists, and printed book of finalists if applicable). If done in class, be sure to include the teacher and school principal names. If we do not have a valid e-mail, logistics may be such that we will not be able to notify you of receipt or finalists.
Judging:
A panel of college judges from the English, Education, and Science departments will select 39 finalists. Certificates will be awarded to each finalist. From the 39 finalists, three top prizes will be awarded in three grade level categories: elementary, middle school, and high school.
Award Ceremony:
Finalists will be invited to read their poems at the Science Festival catered reception, and will be published in a book available free to all finalists. Parents and teachers will receive an invitation to this event, and the event is free and open to the public. Three top prizes ($100, $50, and $25 gift cards) will be awarded to the three top poems in each grade group. If the winning poem is completed in class and submitted by the classroom teacher, the teacher will receive the same prize as the student.
The Poetry Reading and Awards will occur at a reception held Friday, March 22, 6:30-7:30 pm Wimberly Recital Hall, Presser Building, Randolph College