Fair Poet Contest Rules & Guidelines

Theme: “Then, Now, Or Future” 

Reflect on this theme while writing your poem.

• Any student attending Fairport Harding Junior/High School in grades 6-12 is eligible to submit a poem.

• All artwork must be on the same page as the poem.  All artwork must be original (no tracing).

• All poems and/or artwork must be on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper.

• Every poem must have a student ID number in the upper left-hand corner of the document. Please do not insert the ID number in the header. 

• All poems must be accompanied by a completed entry form.

• All poems must have a title.

• One poem per student.

• Entries must not have been previously published or submitted anywhere else (including blogs, social media or a prior class assignment). Any entry not following these guidelines will be withdrawn from the competition. 

• All final decisions are left up to the Fair Poet committee.

• In order to claim their cash prize, winners must read their poems at the Fair Poet Awards Ceremony.

Grades 6-8

• First place winner will receive $100

• Second place will receive $50

• Third place will receive $25

Grades 9-12

• First place winner will receive $175

• Second place will receive $100

• Third place will receive $50

Fair Poet Contest deadline is March 17, 2023 at 3:00 pm.

Entries must be submitted to an English teacher with a cover sheet. You do not need to be enrolled in an English class to participate.

Hunter Chapdelaine

Shyli Gibney

Mikayla Lesiak

Nevaeh Reyes

Kaydence Wiley

Izabella Wood 

• Aaron Gebeau  “I am a Bear” - 1st place
• Taylor Sanborn  “Smooth Waves” - 2nd place
• Jaidin Knipp  “I Will” - 3rd place
• Kaylynn Clasing  “Grateful, Both Day and Night”
• Maarika Haller  “A Walk Through a Nice Forest”
• Hayley Jarvis  “When Seasons Change”

• Gabby Palmer  “The Flower Upon My Windowsill” - 1st place 
• Alyssa Smith  “Differences” - 2nd place
• Marcus Toreki  “Handover” - 3rd place
• Evan Bish  “Humanity is Failing”
• Olivia Hulett  “The Change of Seasons” 
• Brenna Starkey  “Beautiful Monster” 

Congratulations to our 2017 Fall Fair Poet Winners

2017 Fall Fair Poet Winners  <-- Download all the Fall poems here.

Grades 6-8 Fair Poet Finalists (Left to Right) (Top Picture)

• Morgan Braemer - Grade 8 “Lost”
• Samantha Yowell - Grade 7 “The Beauty of Technology”
• Samantha Collins - Grade 8 “Mask of Lies”
• Owen Meacham - Grade 7 “Cassini”
• Mia King - Grade 7 “Record and Watch”

Grades 9-12 Fair Poet Finalists (Left to Right) (Bottom Picture)

• Jesus Chavez - Grade 12 “Mi Poesia!”
• Victoria Palmer - Grade 11 “Dystopia”
• Angie Gutekunst - Grade 11 “Technology (Click, Click, Click)”
• Breanna Cremeans - Grade 10 “Technology (It’s Popular)”
• Rylie Erb - Grade 10 “Why me?”

In the Fall of 2016, the students here at Fairport created something truly wonderful. From an idea that started in a classroom, to a spark of interest from an alum, culminating in the flames of creativity that were fanned by the promise of recognition and prizes, we created a society of poets here at Fairport Harding. Strength and nature were the topics that bred ingenuity within the minds of our young writers, creating heaps of rough drafts as they sought to better their craft. In the fall of 2017, students were challenged to create another winning poem by looking at something the modern world takes so for granted: technology. 

The Fair Poet Contest may have only started with the aim of creating poetry, but in the fall of 2017, we celebrated having made the contest part of our identity at Fairport Harding. Seventh graders are learning the foundational elements of Shakespearean Sonnets. High schoolers are studying poetic movements whose names are longer than most tweets on Twitter. Students are learning the foundational elements of poetry in the classroom, and using those skills they are turning Fairport Harding into an educational facility where we may have the next Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, or the next Maya Angelou in our midst.

Over 215 poems were submitted for the 2017 Fall Fair Poet Contest, Grades 6-12, at Fairport Harding High School. The Fair Poet Committee would like to thank the following for their support of this annual Fairport Harding High School Program: 

• Fair Poet Contest Sponsor: Hank Werronen, Class of 1961
• Fair Poet Contest Readers: Ms. Wessels, Mr. Colbert, and Mrs. Rumbarger
• Fair Poet Contest Judges: Mr. Dustin Doversberger, Mrs. Brenna Ruff, Dr. Nicholas P. Tatonetti
• Fair Poet Judge Coordinator: Cathy Norman
• Board Office Secretaries: Cindi Clair and Natalie Rock
• Program and Certificates: Mrs. Prosser & Ms. Murphey
• Sound, Lights, Video: Mr. Rodney Kozar and Instructional Media Technology Students at Auburn Career Center
• Teachers and Staff of Harding High School
• Fairport Academic Boosters
• Fairport Harbor Exempted Village Schools Professional Learning Community

And now, the 2017 Fair Poet Fall Contest winners:

High School - Grades 9-12

• 1st Place - Rylie Erb
• 2nd Place - Victoria Palmer
• 3rd Place - Breanna Cremeans

Middle School - Grades 6-8

• 1st Place - Owen Meacham
• 2nd Place - Samantha Collins
• 3rd Place - Samantha Yowell

Pictured above 1st place winners for High School and Middle School: Rylie Erb (left) and Owen Meacham (right)

To read all of the poems and biographies by the 2017 Fall Fair Poet Finalists, please click here. 

Watch the student perform their winning poems at the Dec. 15, 2017 Fair Poet Assembly! 

(Video Credit: Auburn Career Center Instructional Media Technology Program)

A Celebration of Distinguished Writers - May 5, 2018 

Grades 6-8 Fair Poet Finalists - Top Picture: Ryan Chipps, Hank Werronen, Owen Meacham, Lex Patrick, Lewin Uhlir, Rachel Shaw

Grades 9-12 Fair Poet Finalists - Bottom Picture: Jay Alston, Hank Werronen, Logan Barnum, Hailey Radar, Kayla Sharpe, Lydia Shaw

2018 FAIR POET WINNERS <-- Download all the Spring poems here. 

Spring 2018 Fair Poet HIGH SCHOOL WINNERS:

• Third Place: High School - Lydia Shaw - $50
• Second Place: High School - Hailey Radar - $100
• First Place: High School - Gabby Palmer - $175

Spring 2018 Fair Poet MIDDLE SCHOOL WINNERS:

• Third Place: Middle School - Rachel Shaw - $25
• Second Place: Middle School - Lex Patrick - $50
• First Place: Middle School - Owen Meacham - $100

Spring 2018 Fair Poet Runner Ups for High School: 

• JAY ALSTON
• LOGAN BARNUM
• KAYLA SHARPE

Spring 2018 Fair Poet Runner Ups for Middle School:

• RYAN CHIPPS
• LEWIN UHLIR

Spring 2018 Fair Poet Honorable Mentions: 

• Morgan Braemer - Middle School - Poetry and Art Excellence Award - $50 of Art Supplies
• Zoe Ferris - High School - $50
• Delaney Sherwood - Middle School - $50 
• Adara Tharp - Middle School - $50

THANK YOU: 

• Fair Poet Contest Sponsor: Hank Werronen, Class of 1961
• Fair Poet Contest Readers: Mr. Colbert, Mr. Cardina, Mr. Luster
• Fair Poet Contest Judges: Joe Fath, Meghan Carlson, Sarah Toivonen
• Fair Poet Judge Coordinator: Cathy Norman
• VFW Art Contest Sponsors: Janet Merrick, Steve Kalal, Dan Sherwood
• Board Office Secretaries: Cindi Clair and Natalie Rock
• Program and Certificates: Mrs. Prosser & Ms. Murphey
• Sound, Lights, Video: Mr. Rodney Kozar, Instructional Media Technology Students at Auburn Career Center, Mr. Ruzin and Breanna Cremeans
• Teachers and Staff of Harding High School
• Fairport Academic Boosters

As always, we appreciate the support of the Fairport Harbor Exempted Village Schools Professional Learning Community.