The 2008 Student Contest was judged by Jeri McCormick, a Madison poet and former president of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. She is the recipient of a Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship and an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association.  Her book, When It Came Time, was published by Salmon Publishing Ltd. in Ireland.  Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Cumberland Poetry Review, Byline, Rosebud, Kalliope. Appalachian Journal, Comstock Review, and other magazines. The winners are:

Senior Division: Grades 9-12

1st Place: “The Villanelle That I Wish I Had Forgotten,” Jessi Van Natta, 12th  grade, Pioneer Westfield High School
2nd Place: “The Crunching of Leaves,” Emily Deiss, 12th grade, New Richmond High School
3rd Place: “Silver Spoons,” Natalee Robson, 12th grade, Poynette High School

Honorable Mentions:
1st Honorable Mention: “Sunrise,” Gina Buzzanca, 12th grade, Homestead High School, Mequon
2nd Honorable Mention: “Allergy,” Jackson Scott, 10th grade, New Richmond High School

1st Place: “Submerged,” Hanna Raczek, 7th grade, Mosinee Middle School
2nd Place: “The Aging Man and His Dog,” Miriam Schroeder, 8th grade, St. Bernard School, Wauwatosa
3rd Place: “Night Time Lights,” Charlie Martin, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah Middle School, Elkhart Lake

Honorable Mentions:
1st Honorable Mention: “Not Knowing,” Sarah Loring, 7th grade, Saint Mary’s School, Platteville
2nd Honorable Mention: “Ode to a Great, Great Watch,” Leah E. Rogers, 7th grade, Whitman Middle School, Wauwatosa
3rd Honorable Mention: “Just Imagine,” Bailey Richard, 7th grade, Prentice School District

The 2007 Student Contest was judged by Sheryl Slocum. The winners are:

MIDDLE SCHOOL

1st Place: “Sun,” Katie Casper, Oshkosh, St. John Neumann, 8th Grade
2nd Place: “Rain Shower,” Rheanne Tibbits, Shorewood, Atwater Elementary School, 6th Grade
3rd Place: “Snow,” Makaela Bushman, La Crosse, St. Patrick’s, 6th Grade

Honorable Mentions:
“Glamorous,” Joelle Arentz, La Crosse, Mt. Calvary-Grace Lutheran School, 8th Grade
“The Tempest,” Cole Bender, Eau Claire, South Middle School, 8th Grade
“Laughter,” Zoë Bowman, Eau Claire, South Middle School, 7th Grade
“In Loving Memory,” Amanda Klug, Hancock, Adams-Friendship Middle School, 7th Grade
“All the Ends of the Earth,” Maddy Lambert, Germantown, St. Boniface School, 7th Grade
“Liquid Lies,” Joey LeBrun, Eau Claire, South Middle School, 8th Grade
“I Wish I Could Dance Like Him,” Kent Miehe, Darlington, Darlington Elementary School, 6th Grade
“Just Enough to Get By,” Emily Stage, Eau Claire, South Middle School, 8th Grade

1st Place: “Widow Maker,” Devin Dineen, Glendale, Nicolet High School, 9th Grade
2nd Place: “Gulf of Mexico,” Bethany Morris, New Richmond, New Richmond High School, 11th Grade
3rd Place: “Strokes on the Paper,” Alyssa Lee, Wisconsin Rapids, Lincoln High School, 12th Grade

Honorable Mentions:
“One Hundred,” Austin Alexander, Waukesha, Catholic Memorial, 11th Grade
“My Heritage,” Jaymee Keller, Poynette, Poynette High School, 11th Grade
“Votive Figures,” Selena Milewski, Milwaukee, High School of the Arts, 11th Grade
“Mouth of Disposal,” Jess Morgan, Park Falls, Park Falls High School, 12th Grade
“Tré out,” Leanna Oertel, Rothschild, Everest Senior High School, 12th Grade
“Sixteen,” Natalee Robson, Poynette, Poynette High School, 11th Grade
“Skin,” Justin Wirth, New Richmond, New Richmond High School, 12th Grade
“Broken Words,” Sarah Wyrick, Pell Lake, Badger High School, 12th Grade

MIDDLE SCHOOL

1st Place: Maiyang Lor, "Vietnam War," Einstein Middle School, Grade 8, Appleton
2nd Place: Tricia Jensen, "Rotting Stupids," South Middle School, Grade 8, Eau Claire
3rd Place: Kimberly Wogahn, "Snow Day," South Middle School, Grade 8, Eau Claire

Honorable Mention:
Kevin Statz, "Basket of Life," South Middle School, Grade 8, Eau Claire
Jonathan Wong, "Servant of the Ice," Monroe Middle School, Grade 8, Monroe
David Flaten, "The Casket," South Middle School, Grade 8, Eau Claire

1st Place: Katie McCarty, "home," Appleton North High School, Grade 11, Appleton
2nd Place: Bridget Bachman, "Standardized Testing," Appleton North High School, Grade 11, Appleton
3rd Place: Chelsea Sprick, "poetry," North High High School, Grade 12, Eau Claire

Honorable Mentions:
Aimee Sellon, "A Drink With Fools," Homestead High School, Grade 12, Mequon
Brittany Stephenson, "Daddy’s Girl," Saint Joseph High School, Grade 11, Kenosha

MIDDLE SCHOOL

1st Place: Jessica Gast, "Being A Paintbrush," St James Lutheran School, Grade 8
2nd Place: Erin Kriener, "Midnight Mass," South Middle School, Grade 8
3rd Place: Ellen Marie Bley, "Spring Rain," Kettle Moraine Middle School, Grade 7

Honorable Mention:
MaryBeth Spoehr, "Tie-dye," Fox Valley Christian Academy, Grade 7
Gabriella Friedman, "Dream," Glen Hills Middle School, Grade 8

HIGH SCHOOL

1st Place: Janna Fox, "The Vault," Florence High School, Grade 12
2nd Place: Kristin Retzloff, "Dew," Washburn High School, Grade 9
3rd Place: Leah Wierzba, "Spirit Dancer," Rosholt High School, Grade 9

Honorable Mentions:
Jenilee Klish, "Redemption Through Coffee," Lincoln High School, Grade 12
Aaron Owen, "True Tragedy," DeForest High School, Grade 9
Gretchen Anderson, "Friday," New Richmond High School, Grade 12

MIDDLE SCHOOL

First Place: "Nature," Bridget Apfeld, 7th grade, Sts. Cecelia & James School, Mequon
Second : "Neat," Danielle Elwin, 8th grade, Trinity-St. Luke's Lutheran School, Watertown
Third: "Winter Paradise," Stephanie Koch, 7th grade, Trinity-St. Luke's Lutheran School, Watertown

Honorable Mentions:
"Campfire," Kristi Egnarski, 8th grade, Trinity-St. Luke's Lutheran School, Watertown
"She Danced into His Life," Ita Rehbach, 8th grade, Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School, Viroqua
"Autumn," Jennifer Smith, 7th grade, Sts. Cecelia & James School, Mequon
"Shotgun," Andrew Snyder, 6th grade, St. Clement School, Lancaster
"Seven Years," Lydia Statz, 8th grade, Fort Atkinson Middle School, Fort Atkinson

First Place: "Dresses," Evelyn Ann Bround, 11th grade, Madison West High, Madison
Second : "Untitled," Jamie Lee Mean, 12th grade, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
Third: "Changing Chairs (3x with e.e. cummings)," Alyson Barrett, 12th grade, Lincoln High, Wisconsin Rapids

Honorable Mentions:
"Simon the Robot," Jennie Wood, 10th grade, Lodi High, Lodi
"Roosting in the Shadows," Bonnie Seaquist, 12th grade, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
"Red," Taylor Bergen, 11th grade, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
"Unconditional Love," Joanna Foster, 11th grade, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
"Untitled," Shannon Burnham, 12th grade, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek

GRADES 6-8

Judged by Shirley Blanchard, the author of four books of poetry. Her most recent book is Your Funny Bone is Where? Her poems are in Wisconsin Poets' Calendar, Chrysanthemum and other journals. Her regular column, "See You on the Trail," is in Centerline. She writes in and about the Kettle Moraine.

First Place: "A Snowflake Considered" Connor Mulcahy, Whitewater Middle School, Whitewater
Second : "Someone Told Me" Lisa Schommer, St. John School, Little Chute
Third: "The Moth" Gabrielle Myers, Eagle School, Madison

Honorable Mentions:
"We are the low rumble you hear," Anne Proescholdt, Cumberland Middle School, Cumberland
"Yesterday," Amanda Tran, Eagle School, Madison
"Childhood of Grapes," Emily Latorraca, Eagle School, Madison
"No Hitter," Christopher Allen Smith, Baraboo Middle School, Baraboo
"John Cage, 1912-1992," Katie Erdmann, Eagle School, Madison
"Star, Dance across the Evening Sky," Brittany Storhoff, Lodi Middle School, Lodi
"Veteran," Amanda Moss, Northwestern Middle School, Poplar

Judged by Fabu Carter Mogaka, who has twenty years of experience working with educational institutions and community organizations. She has combined her two passions, literary arts and love of young people as a poet-in-residence in the schools and as Councilor-at-Large with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Art and Letters.

First Place: "Attic Box" Kristina Berns, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
Second : "Creation" Emily Wolfe, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
Third: "Epiphany" Brendan Gants, James Madison Memorial High, Madison

Honorable Mentions:
"For Mikey," Ashley Toth, Pius XI High School, Milwaukee
"The Salesman," Jenna Eichberger, Black River Falls High School. Black River Falls
"Cinnamon," Dorian Ramos, Gibraltar High School, Fish Creek
"Panic," Martha Harms, Pius XI High School, Milwaukee
"Age," Emily Whiting, Lena High School, Lena
"Wild and Free," Brennan Roorda, Butternut High School, Butternut
"Steel Dreams," Maureen Backman, Edgewood High School, Madison

GRADES 6-8

Judged by Barbara Bache-Wiig, Waukesha,WI. Barbara is the author of Lessons and her poems have been published in many small press literary magazines. She is a member of the performance group The Poetry People.

First Place: "A Silver Grain of Sand" by Matt Niederhuber, Eagle School, Madison
Second : "Finding Myself" by Kaitlynn Lairson, DeForest Area Middle School, DeForest
Third: "Spiderwebs" by Alicia Mraz, St. James School, Shawano

Honorable Mentions: (in alphabetical order)
"Did You…" by Kayla Kanack, Lena Public Schools, Lena
"My Curlys" by Kayla Stevenson, St. Monica School, Whitefish Bay
"Because…" by Tiffany Miller, Resurrection School, Green Bay
"Braces Ode" by Melissa Petritis, Lake Denoon Middle School, Muskego
"The Peacock" by Lily Schultze, Lake Bluff Elementary, Shorewood
"Mrs. Becker, Our Second Mother" by Lindsey Buchner, Lake Denoon Middle School, Muskego
"Books" by Jenna Bonavia, Brown Deer Middle School, Brown Deer

Special Merit Awards
"Whatif" Ethan Jablonowski, St. Monica School, Whitefish Bay
"The Ocean of Beauty" Aaron Wofford, Good Hope Christian Academy, Milwaukee
"My Flame Poem/My Ice Poem" Joel Johnson, Maplewood Middle School, Brown Deer

Judged by Dr. Phil Zweifel, Waukesha,WI. Phil teaches creative writing at UW-Waukesha including both credit classes and non-credit poetry workshops, and for more than 20 years has served as faculty adviser to The Windy Hill Review, a campus literary magazine.

First Place: "Red Collar" by Laura Schneider, Madison West High School, Madison
Second : "Eleven A.M. Customers" by John Vanderhoef, Lincoln High School, Wisconsin Rapids
Third: "Autumn" by Erika Claire Strandjord, River Valley High School, Spring Green

Honorable Mentions: (in alphabetical order)
"The Good Old Days" by Amanda Stephan, Hartford Union High School, Hartford
"Broken" by Celeste Bean, Gilmanton High School, Gilmanton
"Bus Envy" by Jordan Soyka, Franklin High School, Franklin
"Weight Lifting" by Bill Beschta, Lena Public Schools, Lena
"Words Unspoken" by Jamie Bird, Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School, Wittenberg
"Fisherman's Wharf" by Brendan Steele, Madison West High School, Madison
"Resurrection" by Rose Kruger-Springer, Xavier High School, Appleton