2007 Sarah Mook Memorial Poetry Prize for Students

Submissions deadline for the Sarah Mook poetry prize is March 31, 2007. Optional donations go to a worthy cause. This is fast becoming a very popular K–12 poetry contest across the country. Please read and abide by all submissions guidelines.

Attention Student Poets!!

 

Sarah Mook Poetry Prize - 2007

The purpose of the Sarah Mook Memorial Poetry Contest is to acknowledge, encourage and reward the efforts of student poets. Sarah Gail Mook was a student in the third grade at Buckingham Friends School in Lahaska, Pennsylvania, when she died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm on December 14, 1995. Sarah started writing poems in kindergarten. It is the goal of this outreach that Sarah’s gift will continue to inspire young poets. In the first two years of the Sarah Mook Poetry Contest we received more than 2000 poems and awarded nearly $4000 in prizes to deserving young poets.

This year’s awards will be $100 First prize, $50 Second Prize and $25 Third Prize in each of four categories: Kindergarten through Second Grade, Third through Fifth Grades, Sixth through Eighth Grades, and Ninth through Twelfth Grades. You may enter up to three poems of any length on any subject. All poems must be typed or word-processed. Your name should NOT appear on the poems. Include a separate cover sheet with the poem titles, your name, grade, address, phone number, and the name of your school. Teachers are encouraged to submit multiple entries from the class. Please include a list of names, titles and grade level for each student, as well as the contact information for the school. Also include a self-addressed-stamped-envelope if you wish to receive the results by mail. An optional donation of $5 (five dollars) payable to “Sarah Mook Outreach Fund” would be appreciated.  

This year’s donations will be given in Sarah’s memory to St. Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, South Dakota. Sarah loved studying about Native Americans, memorizing their poems, songs and stories. She even sent hats and mittens to children at the Rosebud reservation, one of 3 reservations served by St. Joseph’s Indian School. So it seems appropriate to support the school’s mission: “to provide for the basic welfare of children (food, clothing and medical care) with special emphasis on the spiritual, emotional and educational development of each child, while respecting their culture and heritage.” I hope you will join me in this outreach to the Lakota boys and girls of South Dakota. Pilamaya – Lakota for “thank you.”

Please note that a donation is optional. All poems received by the deadline will be eligible for prizes, whether or not accompanied by an entry fee. Entries must be postmarked by March 31, 2007. Winners will be announced in May. Mail entries to:

Sarah Mook Poetry Prize 
P.O. Box 20   
Lahaska, PA 18931

I  PLAY A GAME WITH MY DAD by Sarah Mook (1st Grade)

We have a piece of paper
with words on it.
Then we copy one word
off it, then another,
all silly
like bees with fish wings
or this ivy stick
with books hanging off it
instead of leaves.

When we play this game
I am as happy as a dolphin
singing a song.                       

Thank you. We look forward to seeing your poems!
David Mook and Family

 

Sarah Mook Poetry Contest for Students

In the first two years of the Sarah Mook Poetry Contest we received more than 2000 poems and awarded nearly $4000 in prizes to deserving young poets. The following is a copy of a “results” letter sent to last year’s (2006) participants. Additionally, all winners and finalists received individual letters commenting on their excellent poems.

Dear Participant,

Thank you for entering your poem(s) in the Sarah Mook Poetry Contest. We were pleased to receive more than 1,000 wonderful poems on many interesting and entertaining subjects. Poems dealt with things in nature and the physical world, as well as thoughts and feelings expressing a wide variety of human experiences. They ranged in length from haiku to sestinas (a few even longer) and included “kite” poems and other fascinating “shape” poems. It is encouraging to see the intelligence and thoughtfulness of so many talented young writers.

It was both my privilege and pleasure to read every poem before passing them along to the two final judges. Choosing “winners” from so many fine poems is both difficult and time-consuming. My heartfelt thanks go out to this year’s judges, award-winning poets Bill Wunder and Camille Norvaisas. Camille wrote, “It was very close and hard to decide. I thought the kids deserved the very best of my consideration.” We are thankful for ALL of your poems and for helping to honor both Sarah and poetry. Good luck with your writing in the future.

Grades K-2  

1. “Raindrops”  Sophia Marianiello, Newark, DE
2. “What Is Green?”  Anisha Mittal, Gulph Mills, PA
3. “Swirling Kites”  Sarah Moss, Levittown, PA

Grades 3-5  

1. “IN THE BEGINNING” Nathan Whitney, Cincinnati, OH
2. “Night” Katherine LoCasale, Wayne, PA
3. “Snail” Charlotte Collins, River Forest, IL

Grades 6-8  

1. “Mosquito Poem” Annie Maxwell, Philadelphia, PA
2. “faded flowered wallpaper” Becky Sibner, Pttsfield, MA
3. “Possibilities” Anna Boynton, Lynchburg, VA

Grades 9-12 

1. “The Pillar Saint: I Would Stand Above the World” Michael Deagler, Pipersville, PA
2. “of non-being” Jessica Roth, Granby, CT
3. “Atlas Discovers His Corporeal Body” JD Schneider, Chatham, NJ

We hope you will enter the Sarah Mook Poetry Contest again this year. Entries must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2007. Mail entries to:

Sarah Mook Poetry Prize
P.O. Box 20
Lahaska, PA 18931                                           

Thank you again for your support, and for helping to honor Sarah and her gift of poetry. I  especially want to acknowledge the teachers for their dedication and extraordinary efforts in support of students and their writing.

With Gratitude,

David Mook and Family

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