Poetry In Schools 2026
Submissions open February 1st for the Northeast Texas Poetry in Schools Contest. Are you ready?
Seize the opportunity to showcase your students’ creativity through the Poetry in Schools contest. Winners will be published in our annual anthology and recognized at our April 2026 celebration!
Enter the Northeast Texas Poetry in Schools Contest!
Submissions open February 1 - March 1, 2026
Additional details found below.
Check out this story from KETK highlighting the contest and how students can get involved.
The submission form will be open February 1 through March 1, 2026.
Submission details:
- Open to 1st - 12th graders
- All poems per grade level should be submitted in ONE GOOGLE document
- Table of Contents (List all student names, first and last, along with poem title in the order in which they appear in the document)
- Teacher name, school name, grade level in the “header” section
- Each page should be numbered and only one poem per page
- Students full name should be at the top of their poem page along with poem title
- Poems may not exceed 28 lines
- Poems should be typed without illustrations
- Only one entry per student
- Entries must be original, unpublished, typed poems written by the student
- Poems must be submitted by teachers or homeschool parents only
- Poem documents should be titled/saved as: SchoolName.TeacherLastName.GradeLevel (example: Region7.Kinsman.Sixth)
Teachers notified of top 3 finishers March 27. The awards ceremony will take place April 24, 2026 at Region 7 ESC.
Thinking about submitting to our Poetry Contest, but not sure what to work on right now?
You are in the perfect window to help students shape strong poems before the submission deadline. Here are a few simple ways to focus your poetry work over the next few weeks.
Start with choosing a meaningful topic
Great poems usually begin with something specific. Encourage students to write about:
Great poems usually begin with something specific. Encourage students to write about:
- a place that matters to them,
- a memory they can still see clearly,
- an object with a story,
- something they wish adults understood, or
- a moment they felt proud, brave, embarrassed, or surprised.
If students are stuck, remind them that small moments often make the strongest poems.
Use a mini lesson to strengthen student writing
Once students have a draft, try a short mini lesson where you model how writers revise poetry. Show students how to:
Once students have a draft, try a short mini lesson where you model how writers revise poetry. Show students how to:
- highlight the strongest line and build the poem around it,
- replace vague words with more specific details,
- cut extra words to tighten the poem, and
- read the poem out loud to hear what works and what doesn’t.
Revision does not mean starting over. It means making good writing even better.
Light editing before submission
Before submitting, have students check that:
Before submitting, have students check that:
- a title is included,
- the student's name is spelled correctly,
- line breaks are intentional, and
- spelling and punctuation support the meaning of the poem.
Additional Help
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