From Page to Stage: Springfield Prep’s First Annual Poetry Contest

On Friday, January 30, 2026, our middle school launched a new tradition: a school-wide Poetry Contest featuring original student writing. Students from each grade submitted poems they were proud of, and selected finalists performed their work for their peers. The contest created a meaningful space to celebrate student voice and creativity.

Winner, 6th Grader, Michelle Nwafor with Principal Christine Torres

Sixth grader Michelle Nwafor was named this year’s winner. Her poem, I Think I Lost My Manual,” captured a feeling many middle schoolers can relate to—the sense of figuring things out as you go. (We’re excited to publish her full poem below and celebrate her work!) Skye Howard and Leah Rodriguez-Avino placed Honorable Mention with their respective poems, “The Weight of it All” and “My Home, My Island.”

The contest was organized by our middle school ELA team—Meghan Hartigan, Adrienne O’Connor, and Stephany Rodriguez—who wanted to create more authentic opportunities for students to share their writing. “As an ELA team, we often discuss how amazing our students’ writing is, but we realized there haven’t been many opportunities for them to share their work with each other,” said Ms. Hartigan. “We wanted to give them a chance to shine as the creative writers they are, without tying it to grades.”

Poetry, in particular, is a natural fit for middle school.  “Middle School is a time of great change and growth, and with that comes countless opinions, feelings, and ideas,” Ms. Hartigan explained. “Poetry gives students a chance to express all of this without having to worry about following the rules present in other forms of academic writing.”

One of the biggest surprises for the team was how readily students embraced the work. “We were so pleasantly surprised and amazed to see how natural it seemed for our students to write truthful, creative, and deep poems relatively quickly,” Ms. Hartigan shared. “They easily took inspiration from some examples we looked at together and put their ideas on a page without self-judgement. ”

A panel of judges listened for clarity, engagement, and creativity, while students also had a chance to cheer on their peers and celebrate each performance. More than anything, the event highlighted something we see every day at Springfield Prep: when students are given space, support, and an authentic audience, they rise to the occasion.

The ELA team is already looking ahead. “We’ll definitely plan to build on this for a similar and better experience next year!”