2005

Contest Winners | Resources

2005 Grand Prize Winners and Finalists

The natural world as seen through the eyes of its children is heartening, humbling, fresh, often life-affirming, and sometimes disturbing. Feel free to download poems for your own enjoyment or for educational use. For commercial use of this copyrighted material, please contact us about reproduction rights. All licensing fees go to support River of Words´ educator training programs, our annual contest, and our curriculum materials.

Poetry submissions are judged by River of Words co-founders Robert Hass, who served as US Poet Laureate from 1995-1997, and writer Pamela Michael. We award four Grand Prizes in poetry every year to United States contestants, in four different age categories. In addition, about 50 finalists are selected each year from the tens of thousands of entries we receive from the US and other countries.

You may look at poems from previous years by using the menu below.

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From My Boat

John Davies-Schley, age 7
Denver, Colorado
Ebert Elementary School
Teacher: Linda Keller

Grand Prize Winner
Category I
Grades K-2

The Web of Life

Caroline Maria Woods-Mejia, age 8
Berkeley, California
Rosa Parks School/Poetry Inside Out
Teacher: John Oliver Simon

Grand Prize Winner
Category II
Grades 3-6

Horizon please Continue

Ginny Drake, age 14
Seattle, Washington
Lakeside School
Teacher: Alicia Hokanson

Grand Prize Winner
Category III
Grades 7-9

Pulling Life Onward

Ann Pedtke, age 17
Laingsburg, Michigan
Homeschooled

Grand Prize Winner
Category IV
Grades 10-12

Untitled

Luis Castillo, age 10
Watsonville, California
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts
Teachers: Linda Cover/Kulana Kamahao’

Monkey’s Raincoat Prize
Honoring a Short Poem in the Traditon of the Japanese Haiku

Family

Phoebe Tang, age 14
San Francisco, California
Lowell High School
Teacher: Susan Terence/California Poets in the Schools

Shasta Bioregion Prize
Awarded to a San Francisco Bay Area student

Finalists

Alexandria Brinkley, age 11, Fremont, California

Mehrnush Golriz, age 11, Berkeley, California
Kimberly Guzman, age 12, San Francisco, California
Audrey Larkin, age 11, San Francisco, California
Henry Newman, age 11, Pacific Beach, California
Dante Romero, age 6, Laguna Niguel, California
Elsinore Smidth-Carabetta, age 15, Mill Valley, California
Lily Stoner, age 11, Berkeley, California
Victoria Wong, age 14, San Francisco, California
Connie Zhang, age 14, San Francisco, California
Angel Borunda, age 10, Denver, Colorado
Shannon Craig, age 10, Pine, Colorado
Seana Davis, age 9, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Sophie Kaufman, age 12, Englewood, Colorado
Nate Koch, age 8, Denver, Colorado
Sophie Onody, age 12, Aurora, Colorado
Z’haniqwa Daniels, age 10, New London, Connecticut
Scott Laffler, age 12, Alpharetta, Georgia
Isabella Baldwin, age 7, Boise, Idaho
Priyanka Bose, age 14, Jacksonville, Illinois
Curtis Koch, age 13, Sabula, Iowa
Rebecca Miller, age 17, Decorah, Iowa
Catherine Porth, age 17, Burlington, Iowa
Sammantha Smith, age 13, Sabula, Iowa
Haley Binder, age 15, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Billy Creed, age 16, Denham Springs, Louisiana
Rafael Espinoza, age 14, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Daniel Koepp, age 17, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Christina Welsch, age 16, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Zoe Mason, age 13, Nobleboro, Maine
Marley Witham, age 13, Arrowsic, Maine
Emerald Wong, age 8, Weston, Massachusetts
Margaret Chute, age 14, Wayzata, Minnesota
Molly Goelzer, age 11, Durham, New Hampshire
Diana Chien, age 16, Holmdel, New Jersey
James Howell, age 8, Socorro, New Mexico
Benjamin Nelson Schille, age 8, Aztec, New Mexico
Emily Litt, age 9, Scarsdale, New York
Kara McKeever, age 17, Defiance, Ohio
Carla Cain-Walther, age 15, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Sarah Jones, age 17, Wallingford, Pennsylvania
Luis Mendez, age 9, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Christina Maria Perachio, age 19, Wallingford, Pennsylvania
Jane Jiang, age 16, Bellvue, Washington
Sammi Jo Lee, age 13, Woodway, Washington
Morgan Weiler, age 13, Seattle, Washington

Madeline Wong, age 13, Bellvue, Washington

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