Monroe County Students Write Poetry

The Studios of Key West Celebrates Kids Poetry Contest Winners

[Key West, FL] Winners of the Robert Frost Poetry Contest for Children & Teens gathered at The Studios of Key West on Saturday, May 25 for an awards ceremony. The winners in attendance read their poems aloud to the audience of friends, family, Studios staff, and Monroe County teachers.

In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, and Robert Frost (1874-1963), The Studios of Key West is delighted to host the Annual Kids and Teen Poetry Contest each year through the gracious donations established by the Jeane and Jessie Porter Fund at the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys. Jeane Porter was especially committed to encouraging young writers, while supporting the Poetry in School contests around Monroe County. This year marked the 30th annual poetry contest held in Monroe County for school age children, beginning in 1994.

This year, The Studios of Key West received nearly 400 poems and awarded just 12 of those entries. The contest is highly competitive, and results in a very encouraging level of creativity within the younger generation in the Florida Keys.

The kids category (6-12) gave three honorable mentions to Oskar Davis, age 10, Sutton Lucey, age 10, and Joyce Kiger, age 10. Ryleigh Cooke, age 11 received third place; Tristan, age 10, second place; and first place to Mallory Browning, age 11. The teens (13-18) had three honorable mentions: Annalynne Dodd, age 13; Lizzie Portillo Alonso, age 13; Taylor Thomason, age 13. Sofia Dubon Espinoza, age 15, won third; Antonio Gomez, age 17, received second; and Dominik Galaz, age 14 won first place. Read the winning poems at https://tskw.org/kidspoetrycontest