Youth Poetry Contest – 2024

Eligibility
• Special Education: Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
• English as a second language: Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
• General Education: Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
Date of Submission
• Club entries must be sent to YOUR State’s Youth Chairperson; observe your State Deadline. State Winners must be sent
to Regional Chairperson by February 1, 2024. Regional Winners must be sent to National Chairperson by March 1, 2024.
Guidelines
• Poems should be no more than 24 lines (including title) with a max of 42 letters/spaces per line in order to fit on single page of booklet.
• Include name, address, age, grade, and school of participant on the back of entry.
• Sponsoring garden club and state garden club name must also be identified.
• Garden club contact person is the mailing address for any winning entries.
• Sponsoring garden club may be that of a parent or grandparent.
• All entries become the property of National Garden Clubs, Inc.
• Poems do not have to rhyme. They may be traditional verse, acrostics, blank verse, cinquains, diamond poems, limerick, or haiku.
• The theme should not be used as the title to any poetry. When judging, the title is worth 10 points.
• When choosing poem title, please be creative and incorporate the theme: “I Spy With My Little Eye, Something Green Outside”.
• All Regional winning entries must be typed, titled, and sent to National Chairperson in word format via email, and the original hard copy
mailed for judging.
Contact Information: Poetry Contest Chairman, James Pavelka; Email: jamespavelka@comcast.net
Website: https://gardenclub.org/poetry-contest