New Poet’s Society awards scholarships to Lake Washington and Bellevue district students

The New Poet's Society presented its 2010 scholarship awards Monday evening at Redmond High School. The event capped a search for outstanding high school student poets in the Lake Washington and Bellevue School Districts.

The New Poet’s Society presented its 2010 scholarship awards Monday evening at Redmond High School. The event capped a search for outstanding high school student poets in the Lake Washington and Bellevue School Districts.

The $1,000 Judges Choice Award was given to Kaitlin Tullis of Interlake High School for her poem, “Look, my love, Look.”

Four students were awarded $500 Redmond Rotary Club scholarships as follows:

• Sasha Klementiev of Redmond High School for the poem “Gone”

• Heather Smith of Eastlake High School for her poem “In My Dreams”

• Duncan Byargeon of Bellevue High School for his poem “Dark Skinned Warrior”

• Kathleen Zhou of Interlake High School for her untitled poem, which New Poet’s Society founder Rick Smith called “Incandescence”

A $500 Mark L. Di’ire Award was given to Jacklyn Grambush of Interlake High School for an untitled poem which Smith called “Not a Little Laugh.

Redmond, Eastlake, BEST, Interlake and Bellevue High Schools co-sponsored and participated in the contest. High school committees reviewed and selected entries which were then submitted to the New Poet’s Society panel of judges.

Smith also presented guest lectures at each of the participating schools.

At the awards presentation, City of Redmond Poet Laureate Rebecca Meredith congratulated the student writers and stressed the importance of their efforts to “practice an art that lets people know who you are and how you see the world in a new way.”

For more information about the New Poet’s Society, e-mail rsmith2@hotmail.com.