Frequently Asked Questions

Who do I contact with questions?
Our Program Director, Tasha Prescott,  tasha@yanetexas.org

Can I submit my poems by mail
No. While we have accepted poems this way in the past, we switched to an all-online submission process in 2015.

Can my students submit their own poems?
No. While we appreciate every student’s excitement for poetry, we ask that poems be submitted only by teachers and homeschool parents.

Can I submit multiple grade levels in one entry?
Yes, however, each grade level must have their own document uploaded.

Can I submit more than one poem per student?
No. While we are so glad to see students writing a lot of poetry, especially on their own, we only allow one poem per student to be submitted each year.

Should I put my students’ names on their poems?
Yes! Each student’s name, grade level, teacher name, and school name must be on each poem.

Is there a theme for the contest?
No! Students may write on whatever topics or themes they would like.

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Submission Guidelines:

• All poems must be submitted online through the Google Form
• All poems per grade level should be submitted in ONE google document
• Table of Contents (List all student names, first and last, along with poem title in the order in which they appear in the document)
• Teacher name, school name, grade level in the “header” section
• Each page should be numbered and only one poem per page
• Students full name should be at the top of their poem page along with poem title
• Poems may not exceed 28 lines
• Poems should be typed without illustrations
• Only one entry per student
• Entries must be original, unpublished, typed poems written by the student
• Poems must be submitted by teachers or homeschool parents only
• Poem documents should be titled/saved as: SchoolName.TeacherLastName.GradeLevel (example: YoungAudiences.Prescott.Seventh)

Eligibility

Students in grades 1-12 from any public, private, charter, or home school that lies within the Northeast Texas Region are eligible to submit poems to the contest.

Notification of Winners

• Teachers must reply by email to confirm the announcement of their winning students has been received. 

• All winning students’ poems must have a parent consent form submitted before their awards can be finalized. Failure to do so will result in the poem’s disqualification. More information on the permission form will be given to teachers/parents of winning students.

Suggestions for Teachers and Parents

1. Poetry is a conversation between the mind and the heart. Help your students feel comfortable explore interesting intellectual questions with a heart that is open to deep feelings and free to play!
2. Prize-winning poems are marked by originality and imagination; they celebrate the power of language! Avoid asking your whole class to write similar poems or giving prescribed subjects or forms to use. It is very difficult to choose a winner from dozens of almost identical poems.
3. Prize-winning poems feature language, subjects and thoughts that are mature for the grade level. Especially encourage secondary level students not to submit simplistic love and nature poems.
4. Prize-winning poems are extraordinary. Encourage your students to “color outside the lines” with phrasing and word choices that are surprising and yet clear in meaning and well-understood.
5. Prize-winning poetry speaks best with “what is between the words.” Have your students examine their poems for implied meaning and connotation. Secondary students, especially, should be able to identify the underlying theme of their poems, explain metaphors and express personal insights.
6. Prize-winning poetry is more than fact or anecdote or narrative or even emotion. Encourage students to use imagery and metaphor, simile and sound, rhythm and repetition to make “word art.”
7. Expose students to a broad range of poetry before writing. Share your favorite classic poems with your students, as well as works by less famous and contemporary poets. They should see that, while traditional poetry can be impressive, not all poems rhyme, follow a set form or feature “pretty” words.
8. Encourage students to write about experiences that evoke conicted feelings: fears, dreams, joys, passions, regrets, memories, worries. Remind them that prize-winning poetry compels deep thinking.
9. When choosing subjects to write about, especially for competitions, realize which topics will be overdone and help students choose an unusual subject or viewpoint they have experienced.
10. Have your students type their work, then help them check it. Neatness, good grammar and proper spelling make it easier to judge a poem on its merits! Still, it should be their own writing!