OPA Student Contest Winners for 2022 Announced

The Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) is pleased to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2022 High School Poetry Contests. Eligible poems were sent to the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Inc. Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest. All winning poems receive monetary awards and publication in an OPA chapbook, which will be distributed to the participating schools.

We sincerely thank each contest sponsor and judge and congratulate the teachers from each school with student winning poems and honorable mentions. Special thanks to contest coordinator Jessica Weyer-Bentley for all her hard work to coordinate this year’s contests.

Voices from the Past
Sponsor: Mark Hersman — Judge: Jessica Weyer Bentley
1^st   Brooke McCroskey (Jefferson Area High School)        
2^nd   Becky Smith (Buckeye High School)
3^rd    Madison Palmer (Buckeye Local High School)
 
Ethos
Sponsor and Judge: Chuck Salmons
1^st    Annie Johnson (Dublin Coffman High School)
2^nd  James Zielinski (Brunswick High School)
3^rd   Larry Phelps (Jefferson Area High School)
 
Endings
Sponsor and Judges: Great Expectations Writers, Mary Beth Benecke
1^st    Annie Johnson (Dublin Coffman High School)
2^nd  Alexandra Williams (Milford High School)
3^rd   Jordan Scheffler (Lake High School)
HM: Rebekah Repp (Northview High School), Wyatt Kalman (Buckeye Local High School), Larry Phelps (Jefferson Area High School)
 
Free Verse
Sponsor and Judge: Jessica Weyer Bentley
1^st    Bazil Frueh (Ottawa Hills Junior/Senior High School)
2^nd   Logan Dentz (Buckeye Local High School)
3^rd   James Zielinski (Brunswick High School)
 
Humor
Sponsor and Judge: Pat Snyder Hurley
1^st  Jordan Scheffler (Lake High School) 
2^nd   Jacob Gonze (Buckeye Local High School)
3^rd    Annie Johnson (Dublin Coffman High School)
HM:  Zachary Snider (Brunswick High School)
 
Metrical Measures
Sponsor and Judge: Betsy Hughes
1^st  Annie Johnson (Dublin Coffman High School)
2^nd  Carson Wang (William Mason High School)
3^rd  Nicholas Prince (Buckeye Local High School)
 
My Future
Sponsor and Judge: The Pentapoets
1^st  Becky Smith (Buckeye High School)
2^nd  Joshua Repp (Northview High School)
3^rd Logan Carmalt (Buckeye Local High School)
 
Lyric Poem
Sponsor and Judge: Simple Simon Press
1^st Malaysia Clark (Clermont Northeastern High School)
2^nd Mckenna Wilhelm (Buckeye Local High School)
3^rd Rebekah Repp (Northview High School)
HM: Xzavior Yates (Jefferson Area High School)
 
Nature Poem
Sponsor and Judge: Kerry Trautman
1^st Julia Agnew (Jefferson Area High School)
2^nd Madison Palmer (Buckeye Local High School)
3^rd Riley Franklin (Jefferson Area High School)