Westlake students invited to share in Bicentennial spirit

The Westlake Bicentennial Poetry Contest is off and running! Contest entry forms are now available at every Westlake school and at Porter Library.

This contest is designed to celebrate the 200th birthday of Westlake with poems commemorating any aspect of the city the writer chooses to feature. It’s open to all Westlake students 18 and under. Prizes will be awarded in three age groupings.

As someone who has read and judged about 3,000 poems over several years in a Westlake middle school poetry contest, I know our students are good writers – creative and caring, with good language skills. I suspect, too, that with today’s “Tweeting and texting” – both saying much with few words – in a sense, our students actually write poetry more often than prose.

I’m looking forward, along with the other judges, to reading all submissions. The deadline for entries is April 30. For questions, call Zac Springer at 440-250-5486 or email Tara Wendell at tara@wbvobserver.com.