PCPS held the 48th annual Poetry Awards last month, celebrating our community’s best young poets.
More than 200 students participated from area schools. Each student became a published poet, with their work appearing in the 2024 Poetry Anthology.
Resurrection Catholic School’s Erica Bushn was the overall winner at the middle school level, receiving the Mary Mayberry Award for her poem “Anxiety.” Bartow High’s Joshua Gonzalez-Ramos won in the high school category, receiving the Robert J. Fisher Award for his poem “Biography of Red.”
The Poetry Awards are sponsored by PCPS’ Secondary Literacy department and are open to public, private and charter school students throughout Polk County. Congratulations to this year’s winners:
• Lyla Toler, Berkley Accelerated Middle School (sixth grade)
• Madison Smith, Resurrection Catholic School (seventh grade)
• Neer Patel, Lawton Chiles Middle Academy (eighth grade)
• Adelina Lewis, Winter Haven High Cambridge (ninth grade)
• Kevin Espinoza-Hernandez, IB Bartow (10th grade)
• Katherine Johnson, George Jenkins High (11th grade)
• Moira Baxter, Harrison School for the Performing Arts (12th grade)