Encourage Your Young Poets!

The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc. Invites YOU to participate in the NGC YOUTH POETRY CONTEST. The 2024 theme is "My Garden Has Vegetables to Spare That I Can Share-Help Fight Hunger by Sharing Vegetables From Our Garden”

Your youngster doesn't need a green thumb to grow this talent. Excite and encourage our Youth to express and explore their creativity through poetry. NGC's Poetry Contest enables Youth to embrace their talents through the art of writing. Winning entries will be publishes in booklet form. Titles should reflect the theme.

Eligibility

  • Special Education: Kindergarten through 12th Grade
  • English as a second language: Kindergarten through 12th Grade
  • General Education: Kindergarten through 12th Grade.

Dates for Submission

  • Club entries must be sent to YOUR District Poetry Chairman on or before December 1.  See Poetry Flyer for District Chairmen's contact information.
  • District winners will be sent to State Chairman January 10. State Winners must be sent to Regional Chairman by February 1.

Contest Rules

  • All entries must be typed and titled on regular 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
  • Include name, school address, age, grade, and school of participant on the back of entry. (Child privacy is important, and thus, published winning poems will only identify the poet's first name, last name initial, local garden club and state)
  • Sponsoring garden club and state garden club must also be identified. Contact person is the mailing address for any winning entries.
  • Sponsoring garden club may be that of a grandparent.
  • All entries become the property of National Garden Clubs, Inc. and will not be returned. Make your own copies.
  • Poems should be no longer than 24 lines (including title) with a max of 42 letters/spaces per line in order to fit on a single page of the booklet.
  • Poems do not have to rhyme.
  • Poems may be traditional verse, acrostics, blank verse, cinquains, diamond poems, limerick, Haiku.
  • The theme should not be used as the title to any poem, however, the title should incorporate the theme.

Print out the Poetry Flyer for distribution to your kids and youth clubs.

A Contest Label should be affixed to the back of each poetry entry. Complete the required information before submitting poems to your District Poetry Chairman.

Scale of Points

  • Title: 10%
  • Content: 40%
  • Creativity: 30%
  • Style: 20%
  • Total: 100%

Note: Only regional winners are considered in the judging for national winners. Contest winners will not be allowed to win two consecutive years. All of the winning entries will be compiled into a booklet, which will be made available to the winners.

 

State Chairman
Jean O'Shields
400 Valley View Drive
Fort Valley GA 31030
478-397-7660
[email protected]