Teaching Poetry with the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards
Educators and administrators, join us to explore how students in grades K-12 can share their voices through the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards.
During this webinar, we'll share 1-day lesson plans covering all age groups, prompts to get students started, and ways to engage your whole school community.
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1-Day Lesson Plans
K-12th Grade Single-day Poetry Lesson Plans
Would you like your students to participate in the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards? Do you need help getting started?
These simple, single-day lesson plans help you prepare your students to create an original poem regardless of their grade level or experience.
All lessons satisfy aspects of Illinois State Learning Standards.
The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards
This annual competition honors the legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks and the creativity of K-12 writers in Illinois by creating a platform for the next generation of poets to share their voices and develop their craft. Submissions open in November and awards are announced the following summer. Winners receive a prize package and are invited to celebrate at an awards ceremony in Chicago.
2025 Winners
Kindergarten
- Winner: Alantis Martin, “Happy Days” (Peoria)
1st Grade
- Winner: Essence Dean, “Loves Me” (Chicago)*
- Winner: Jennifer Eklund, “Ballgown, Please!” (Peoria)
- Honorable Mention: Major Garvan, “Field Trip Day” (Chicago)
2nd Grade
- Winner: Jermany Ashford, “Wind and Grass” (Peoria)
- Winner: Oliver Spanner, “That Terrible Thing” (Oak Park)
- Honorable Mention: Maryam Zeeshan, “Rain” (Chicago)
3rd Grade
- Winner: Delilah Long, “The Hibiscus Flower” (Peoria)
- Winner: Rani Patel, “Stapler” (Chicago)
- Honorable Mention: Carmen Foley Strasburg, “Untitled” (Winnetka)
4th Grade
- Winner: Mya Watkins, “The Nature Walk” (Peoria)
- Winner: Bella Xia, “Our World Is Crumbling” (Des Plaines)
- Honorable Mention: Roy Conley, “Rain and Desert” (Skokie)
5th Grade
- Winner: Isabelle Lakier, “light” (Chicago)
- Winner: Ray Weitzman, “The frog on the lilypad” (Chicago)
- Honorable Mention: Anna Vermylen, “Being Me” (Chicago)
6th Grade
- Winner: Vivian Steel, “Vinegar & Sage” (Skokie)
- Winner: Matthew Tesiano Cagadas, “The Harvest of Silence” (Skokie)
- Honorable Mention: Vera Volckens, “Blitz” (Oak Park)
*Denotes a previous winner or honorable mention
7th Grade
- Winner: Eli Teper, “A Last Effort” (Champaign)
- Winner: Sophia Javier, “I am from” (Chicago)
- Honorable Mention: Caroline Field, “Eternal” (Skokie)
8th Grade
- Winner: Khloie Waterhouse, “Storm's Coming” (Cerro Gordo)
- Winner: Beatriz Whitford-Rodríguez, “intertidal” (Chicago)
- Honorable Mention: Maddy Willard, “Sculpted Lies” (Cerro Gordo)
9th Grade
- Winner: Ellie Hersher-Dale, “I Dream of Tomorrow's America” (Evanston)
- Winner: Angel’la Murray, “Dementia” (Oak Park)
- Honorable Mention: Haritha Jagadeesan Suganya, “The Quiet Gaze” (Aurora)
10th Grade
- Winner: Leonidas Leigh, “requested funeral rites” (Oswego)
- Winner: Serafina Zethmayr, “Shock and Awe, Attrition, Punishment, Boxing” (Justice)
- Honorable Mention: Zoe Cobb, “what the comb said to the black girl” (Chicago)
11th Grade
- Winner: Ruby Kemp, “Outrunning Grief” (Oswego)
- Winner: Antaya Malnati, “Nature of Destruction” (Oswego)
- Honorable Mention: Melynda Patton, “The Name I Made My Own” (Oswego)
12th Grade
- Winner: Dalila Martinez, “If They Take Her” (Chicago)
- Winner: Morgan Montoya, “Toto, I don't think we're in Chi-town anymore” (Chicago)
- Honorable Mention: Finch Shaw, “RAMBLINGS OF A SINNER AS AN ABECEDARIAN” (Lincolnshire)*
*Denotes a previous winner or honorable mention
Missing a chapbook from a previous year? Contact us.
Previous Winners
Download a chapbook or list to read the poems of previous winners.
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