NORTH READING — The North Reading Garden Club, the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, and National Garden Clubs, Inc. are sponsoring two themed competitions to develop and creatively express environmental awareness. The competition is open to all area students with the opportunity to see the winner’s work published.
The poetry competition for students in kindergarten through 12th grade asks participants to write a poem with the theme, “My Garden Has Vegetables to Spare That I Can Share – Helping Fight Hunger by Sharing Vegetables From Our Garden.” The poem can be in traditional verse or any poetic form. What is important is that the poem explores the theme.
Winners at each grade level will be selected by the state committee. First place poems will be forwarded to the New England Regional Chairperson. First place regional winning poems will then be submitted to National Garden Clubs. National winners will be announced in the spring and the poems will be printed in an online booklet of winning poems created by National Garden Clubs, Inc.
For high school students (ninth through 12th grades), there’s an essay competition to write on the theme, “Is Recycling Plastics the Answer to Our Plastic Disposal Problem?” The essays must be 600 to 700 words in length and should both explain the environmental concerns implicit in the theme and add personal ideas or solutions. Similar to the poetry contest, all local submissions are judged by the state committee with the first place at each grade level forwarded to the New England Regional Chairperson. First place regional essays are then sent to the National Garden Club Chairperson. All winning essays will be published in a digital booklet.
All entries must be received by January 5, 2025. Complete details are available through https://gardenclub.org/contests-and-activities.
Local entries in the competition are sponsored by the North Reading Garden Club on behalf of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts and must be submitted in typed, hard-copy form. Entries should be sent to Charlene Malek at 5 Fairview St., North Reading, MA 01864.
For additional information, please contact Charlene Malek at 978-337-5984 or malek7@verizon.net.