2016-17 RIVER OF WORDS WINNERS & FINALISTS
We are happy to announce the Winners and Finalists of the 2016-17 River of Words Contest! As usual, the judges had a difficult time choosing from the thousands of entries. This year's entrants displayed a remarkable connection to the places they live and to their unique experiences with municipal, social, and natural systems. We congratulate all the students and teachers who participated in this year's contest.
The 2016-17 River of Words winning artwork can be found here! Winning poems as well as the International Prize, Shasta Bioregion, and Monkey's Raincoat winners will be posted momentarily.
2016-2017 Category I Winner
Poetry: Noah Anderson, age 7, Milledgeville GA
Art: Laura Hu, age 8, Northbrook IL
2016-2017 Category II Winner
Poetry: Iris Pope, age 10, Whitefield ME
Art: Mia Lingens, age 9, Santa Cruz CA
2016-2017 Category III Winner
Poetry: Rebecca Oet, age 13, Solon OH
Art: Nicole Li, age 12, Johns creek GA
2016-2017 Category IV Winner
Poetry: Christopher Chandra, age 16, Johns Creek GA
Art: Ziche (Ava) Wang, age 15, Atlanta GA
2016-2017 International Prize Winner
Vinci Chan, age 6, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon Hong Kong, China
Monkey’s Raincoat Prize (for a short poem in the haiku tradition)
Maren Cooper, age 10, Westport Island ME
SHASTA BIOREGION PRIZE (Honoring a Student from Northern California)
Emma Grover, age 17, Stanford CA
2016-17 Poetry Finalists
Emma Almaguer, age 10, San Rafael CA
Alexandra Arient, age 12, Concord CA
Sarah Baldino, age 17, Bethesda MD
Sydney Barber, age 17, Lake Forest IL
Ariella Benor, age 8, Los Angeles CA
Shani Binyamin, age 16, Chardonne, Switzerland
Suraiya Brister, age 10, San Francisco CA
John Bussey, age 13, Olympia WA
Kathy Cao, age 15, Commack NY
Julia Du, age 16, Afton MN
Will Egan, age 14, Sarasota FL
Marissa Ellis, age 7, Flora Vista NM
Kali Fillhart, age 17, Suffolk VA
Chui Yi Ho, age 14, San Francisco CA
Jarvis Hodges, age 9, San Francisco CA
Amerika Jones, age 11, Rochester WA
Makenna Kwik, age 14, San Francisco CA
Mia Lombardo, age 6, San Jose CA
Datta Madhav, age 7, San Jose CA
Niko Mann, age 8, San Anselmo CA
Acadia McCoy, age 11, New Orleans LA
Rija McDizzle Sabeeh, age 11, Cockeysville MA
Luz Miyar-Mullan, age 14, San Francisco CA
Maxine Moody, age 11, Seattle WA
Emma Nathanson, age 13, San Geronimo CA
Shanmugesh Raja, age 13, San Ramon CA
Charlize Ramirez, age 6, Rochester WA
Clara Roush, age 9, Montesano WA
Greg Sander, age 15, Little River SC
Chloe Sobelman, age 10, San Francisco CA
Maya Thisner, age 13, Fairfax CA
Jehan Vanniasinkam, age 10, San Ramon CA
Cora Viehl, age 7, Denver CO
Ian VonFrank, age 9 Edgecomb, ME
Carson Wallis, age 8, Centralia WA
Jasmine Wang, age 14, San Francisco CA
Sara Yeshak, age 10, Seattle WA
2016-17 “On Writing” Poetry
Shimwa Augusta, age 13, Kigali , Rwanda
Jeremiah Davis, age 19, Greenville SC
Juliette Kheyfets, age 16, Middleburg PA
Lesley Mendoza-Gomez, age 11, Saint Louis CA
Jayden Swick-Custer, age 12, Sarasota FL
2016-17 Art Finalists
Lovina Andersen, age 13, Rochester WA
Ashley Beltran, age 13, Gainesville GA
Dominic Burnham, age 11, Farmington NM
Raksa Chanposri, age 8, Nonthaburi , Thailand
Nathaniel Clough, age 11, Atlanda GA
Braylen Edwards, age 10, Farmington NM
Reagon Goss, age 5, Flowery Branch GA
Kennard Alvaro Hadinata, age 7, Surbaya East Java, Indonesia
Serenne Henry-Mitchell, age 10, Olympia WA
Yejin Hwang, age 18, Alpharetta GA
Nicole Klein, age 11, Bandung , Indonesia
Kaitlin Lee, age 7, Plainfield IL
Happy Leveson-Jones, age 10, Atlanta GA
Nicole Li, age 12, Johns creek GA
Jolie Liu, age 14, Lilburn GA
Aiden Mahler, age 10, Cumming GA
Valerie McCarthy, age 8, Fremont CA
Lena Moller, age 12, Flowery Branch GA
Una Nikolić, age 8, Backo Dobro Polje , Serbia
Sara Rajpathak, age 7, Redmond WA
Sara Rajpathak, age 7, Redmond WA
Venya Raxwal, age 13, Rockaway NJ
Neha Ray, age 17, Kolkata West Bengal, India
Daniel Reyes, age 7, Watsonville CA
Celine S Choi, age 11, Centennial CO
Samantha Siegel, age 16, Short Hills NJ
Natalie Silbourg, age 12, Bandung , Indonesia
Nadiya A. Smyrnova, age 18, Madison AL
Nathan Soganich, age 8, Morrietta Ga
Manahil Syeda, age 10, San Ramon CA
Stephanie Tian, age 16, Suwanee GA
Clare Troll, age 8, Somerset PA
Christine Troll, age 14, Somerset PA
Brendan Turner, age 10, Cumming GA
Holden Turner, age 12, Flowery Branch GA
Helen Viec, age 13, Gainesville GA
Jeremy Weinstein, age 16, Davenport IA
Yalda Yaqubi, age 14, Kabul, Afghanistan
Karen Ye, age 10, Lilburn GA
Our 2016-17 winners and finalists hail from:
United States: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington
And Elsewhere: Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, Rwanda, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand
Special thanks to our guest 2016-17 Art and Poetry Judges who made all this possible: Andrew Mount, Kevin Peters, Nestor Gomez, Anna Harmon, Briana Swain, Katie Walker. And of course to our very own ROW Team who made the event possible: Maureen Esty, Ambereise McElrath, Amanda Ramos, and Bri Stuart.
If you or someone you know are eligible for the 2018 contest, Online Student Entry Forms are now available through our website . You can find your appropriate Deadlines and Mailing Address at the bottom of the River of Words Art and Poetry Contest page.