River of Words FAQ
Great question! The theme of the contest is "watersheds." If you don't know what a watershed is, click here! Basically, a watershed is land that all drains into the same body of water; every plant, animal, person, and object you see in your day-to-day life is part of your watershed.
The goal of River of Words is to connect youth with their watersheds - the environments they live in - through engagement in the art and poetry of place. That means we look for art and poetry that shows a real connection to the world around you. For some folks, that means a lot of green and open space; for others, that means a city environment, with different noises, smells, and sights. We're looking for youth to show us what only they see about their world.
For inspiration and examples of past winning and finalist poetry and art, click here.
Children 5-20 years of age, who are not yet in college, may enter the River of Words annual contest.
Each year, U.S. entries with the exception of Georgia and Arizona entries must be postmarked (or submitted electronically) by December 1. International entries must be received by mail or electronically by February 1. Entries can be mailed in throughout the year; any entries received after the deadline will be held for the next year's contest.
Arizona entries are due Feburary 1st, 2020. Mail art and physical submissions to:
Living River of Words
Pima County Natural Resources
Parks and Recreations
3500 W. River Road
Tucson, AZ 85741Georgia entries are due February 1st, 2020. Mail art and physical submissions to:
Georgia River of Words
2 Martin Luther King Jr Drive
Suite 1462 E
Atlanta, GA 30334No; the contest is free to enter.
Consider how many/which student(s) originally created the poem or artwork. For example, poems and art that have been revised as the result of a workshop, or generated by one individual as the result of a class-wide exercise, generally have one original, primary creator. If your child is the original and primary creator of a poem/artwork, they may submit that artwork under their own name and, if that artwork is awarded a prize, your child will receive the prize.
If your child has a piece of artwork that has multiple primary, original creators (for example, a painting more than one student worked on in a similar timespan, or a poem where more than one student contributed a stanza), you may submit the art, but one child must be selected as a representative of the group. They are eligable, but only one entry form may accompany each poem or artwork. Should the poem or artwork be chosen as a winning entry, one child will receive the prize as a representative of the group.
Yes. Students can submit as many poems and/or pieces of artwork as they wish (including poem/art combinations.)
Please note: If completing a Paper Student Entry Form, a separate paper entry form must by physically attached to each art or poetry entry on the back of the corresponding entry by glue or tape. However completing Online Student Entry Form allows one to include up to five works (art or poetry) at a time. Multiple submissions of Online Student Entries are allowed.
Students may enter the contest through their school, environmental club, scout troop, art organization, or any other such group with a parent or legal guardian's permission, or their parent or legal guardian may enter them in the contest individually. Students who are 18 years or older may enter on their own. Facilitators in charge of a group of student entries should submit all entries at one time: mailed to River of Words all together in one envelope or package. All entries must be sumitted with a completed entry form.
Which entry form should be used?
River of Words has only two forms: the Student Entry Form and the Facilitator Form.
When completing a Student Entry Form, there will be an option to designate the entry as a Individual or Group entry.
Individual Entry?
Any art or poetry entry submitted to River of Words without a Facilitator should be designated as an Individual Entry. All Student Entry Forms require the consent and permission of the student's parent or legal guardian before being submitted to River of Words.
Please note: there is no limit to the number of art or poetry entries that can be submitted by one student. If completing a Paper Student Entry Form, a separate paper entry form must by physically attached to each art or poetry entry on the back of the corresponding entry by glue or tape. The Online Student Entry Form allows one to include up to five works (art or poetry); to submit more than five works using the Online Entry Form, the parent or legal guardian can submit additional Online Student Entry Forms as necessary.
Group Entry?
A teacher, educator, or community or group leader may assist their group of students in entering the River of Words contest by acting as a Facilitator. As a Facilitator, this educator will be the first point of contact should the River of Words contest management have a question or decision regarding a student's art or poetry entry. Traditionally, the Facilitator often submits student art and poetry created by students in the Facilitator's "classroom" as part of an environmental literacy activity or creative project. Under no circumstances is the Facilitator to submit student work to River of Words without first receiving the consent and permission of a student's parent or legal guardian. All Student Entry Forms marked as a Group Entry must include their Facilitator's contact information.
Facilitator Form
When submitting their students' art and poetry to River of Words, the Facilitator must also complete and submit a Paper or Online Facilitator Form and a class list.
Questions?
If you have any questions about whether to designate a student's entry as group or individual, please contact River of Words at rowinfo@stmarys-ca.edu or (925)631-4289.
Written poems should be no longer than 32 lines in length, and should be typed or neatly printed in ink; please see "what should my poetry entry be formatted like?" for additional poetry guidelines. Please staple or glue the poem to the entry form such that each piece faces out.
Guidelines for ASL poems are forthcoming.
Artwork should be no larger than 11"x17" and should not be framed, matted, laminated, or folded. If using charcoal or pastels, please remember to "fix" artwork before sending. Please affix the entry form to the back of the students artwork, using either tape or glue. Do not use staples, as they will injure the artwork.
Remember, each poem or artwork submitted via mail requires a separate paper entry form.
Good question! Students' entries should have the title of the poem centered at the top of the page. If printed, the entire poem should be printed in black, in a legible font such as Times New Roman, Arial, etc. If handwritten, the poem should be written neatly in a standard color of ink (black, blue, etc.) At the bottom of the poem, please leave only the student's age and grade. Please do not put their name, school, or state information on the poem itself. All that information should only appear on the entry form that is glued to the back of the poem. This facilitates ROW's blind judging process, new as of the 2018 contest. Here's an example of what a submission that follows these formatting rules would look like:
2020 River of Words Student Online Entry Form is now available!
You may also download a paper entry forms from the River of Words website (here in English and here in Spanish) or you may request one be sent to you via mail, email, or fax by contacting the River of Words office.
River of Words
Center for Environmental Literacy
Saint Mary's College
PO Box 5060
Moraga, CA 94575 USAPhone: 925-631-4289
Fax: 925-376-8379
Email: rowinfo@stmarys-ca.eduNo. However, if the parent or student over 18 reaches out to River of Words and requests their artwork returned, River of Will will mail it back or a high quality color reproductions will be returned instead). By pre-arrangement with a Regional Coordinator, submissions from an entire state can be returned to one address. In states with a ROW State Coordinator, individual entries are returned to the coordinator. Many states award state-level ROW prizes as well.
4 Grand Prizes are awarded in Poetry, and 4 Grand Prizes are awarded in Art and Poetry. The prizes are split by category:
Category I - Primary (Kindergarten - Grade 2)
Category II: Elementary (Grade 3 - Grade 5)
Category III: Intermediate (Grade 6 - Grade 8)
Category IV: Secondary (Grade 9 - Grade 12)ROW awards 1 International Grand Prize to one entry, either art or poetry, in any age category.
Regionally, we have the Shasta Bioregion Award Winner(s), celebrating outstanding entries from Northern California. We also have several prizes aimed at celebrating specific subjects or forms:
- The Monkey's Raincoat Prize, honoring an exemplar haiku poem(s)
- the On Writing award category, which celebrates poems that approach the nature of writing
- the One Square Block prize, celebrating poems that examine the interaction between the manmade and natural world
The number of entries awarded these 3 prizes are up to the discretion of the judges, but is typically 1-3 per prize category.
Finally, our finalists who are published alongside the winners vary each year, depending on the number and quality of submissions.
River of Words/Kalmanovitz School of Education Teacher of the Year: 1 winner. For information about the Teacher of the Year nomination process, which runs year-round, click here.
Yes; everyone who enters will receive a Watershed Explorer Certificate, suitable for framing. Winners' and finalists' art and poetry will be published in our annual River of Words anthology, as well as on our Web page.
Check out our River of Words Regional Coordinator Starter-Kit and environmental resources pages, also in the Educators section of our website! Our Watershed Explorer Curriculum & associated activities might be helpful as well.
River of Words produces and distributes curriculum materials, communit partnership resources, and children's art and poetry.
River of Words also conducts Educator's Workshops at various locations throughout the year. For upcoming workshops, visit the Educators section here on our website.
ROW is a project of the Center for Environmental Literacy at Saint Mary's College, a non-profit educational organization, incorporated in the State of California. We are supported by grants from foundations and donations from individuals, businesses, and government agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency. We are affiliated with The Library of Congress Center for the Book, the Library's literacy promotion division.