Illustrated Poem Contest

Each year as part of CCEW, ACS sponsors an illustrated poem contest for K-12 students in the US. Please read below for the rules, deadlines, and submission information, and check out the winning poems from last CCEW.

Student Submission Deadline:  Sunday, April 28, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET
Local Section Submission Deadline:  Sunday, May 5, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET


Rules

  • All poems must be no more than 40 words, and in one of the following styles to be considered: Haiku, Limerick, Ode, ABC poem, Free verse, End rhyme, and Blank verse.
  • Entries are judged based upon relevance to and incorporation of the yearly theme, word choice and imagery, colorful artwork, adherence to poem style, originality and creativity, and overall presentation.
  •  All entries must be original works without aid from others. Physical drawings may be scanned or captured via camera and submitted to the online form. Illustrations may be created using crayons, watercolors, other types of paint, colored pencils, or markers.
  • The illustration may also be electronically created by using a digital painting and drawing app on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. If the illustration is created using a digital painting or drawing app, the name of the program must be included on the entry form. 
  • Use of AI in any form (i.e. written or pictorial) is strictly prohibited.
  • The text of the poem should be easy to read and may be typed before the hand-drawn or digital illustration is added, or the poem may be written on lined paper, which is cut out and pasted onto the unlined paper with the illustration.
  • No clipart or unoriginal images can be used.
  • Only one entry per student will be accepted.
  • Students must be sponsored by a school or another sponsoring group (e.g. Homeschool Association, Boys and Girls Club, Scout Troop, 4-H, etc.).

Student Submissions

K-12 students are asked to submit their illustrated poems directly to the coordinators of their local contests. To contact your local coordinator, visit www.ccedlookup.acs.org.

Student Submission Deadline:  Sunday, April 28, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET

Local Contests

All poem submissions will first be judged at the local level in order to be considered for the national contest. The local first-place winners will advance to the national contest, which will be submitted by local coordinators. Only official CCEW Coordinators (or Local Section Chairs) may submit local winners to the national contest in a faithful digital format via the CCEW Local Section Contest Winners Submission Form.

Sample Flyer (docx) is provided for local promotion and a Sample Rubric (xlsx) is provided for local contest judging.

Local Section Winner Submission Deadline:  Sunday, May 5, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET

National Prizes

Local winners advance to the national contest for a chance to win cash prizes. ACS will award $300 to first-place and $150 to second-place national contest winners in each grade category!

National contest winners will be announced in May.

CCEW logo

Congratulations to the 2023 Illustrated Poem Contest Winners!

Illustrated poem contest winners

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Contact the ACS Office of Science Outreach
outreach@acs.org