Red Ribbon Poetry contest open to county high school
students
High school writers in San Benito County have one month to craft
the perfect poem for Red Ribbon Week. County of San Benito
Behavioral Health staff will be collecting submissions for its
first ever Red Ribbon Festival Poetry Contest between Sept. 1 and
Oct. 1.
Red Ribbon Poetry contest open to county high school students
High school writers in San Benito County have one month to craft the perfect poem for Red Ribbon Week. County of San Benito Behavioral Health staff will be collecting submissions for its first ever Red Ribbon Festival Poetry Contest between Sept. 1 and Oct. 1.
The contest is open to students in grades ninth through 12th grade who reside in San Benito County and the top prize is $50. Second and third place winners will receive a prize of $25 each.
“We’ve never had a poetry contest before,” said Renee Hankla, a substance abuse supervisor with the department. “This is the first year.”
In past years, the staff members have sponsored a poster contest, where kids could use art to display their thoughts and feelings about substance and alcohol abuse. The staff also hosts a one-mile Red Ribbon Run each year.
“It’s a national event. It’s the 23 through the 31 of October every year,” Hankla said. “And this year it is the 20th anniversary for us – for San Benito – so we’ve planned some bigger events.”
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Red Ribbon Week for San Benito County, they have decided to bump up the festivities. They will be hosting a Red Ribbon Festival at Dunne Park on Oct. 24, which will incorporate a two-mile run, announcement of the poetry contest winners and a resource fair for the community.
“We will have some entertainers, dancers and musicians,” she said. “We will have booths out for information and other departments are participating.”
Hankla explained that the original Red Ribbon week was started in honor of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a DEA officer who worked to find drug traffickers of marijuana and cocaine in Mexico. He was kidnap in 1985 and never seen again. Camarena’s sister, Myrna Camarena, will attend the event in October as a guest speaker.
“Last year, we had a poster contest and we got a lot of submissions, but we want to include kids that maybe don’t like art but they like to write,” Hankla said. “We don’t want to leave anybody out.”
The staff received more than 200 submissions for the poster contest. As for the poetry contest, Hankla isn’t sure what to expect.
“I’m kind of excited,” she said.
The themes and topics of the poems can be wide-ranging – about preventing substance and alcohol abuse, or about how drugs and alcohol have affected them or someone they know personally.
“It can be whatever their view is on it,” Hankla said. “That’s fine.”
To submit a poem:
Participants can submit one poem that is a maximum of 30 lines, single spaced in 12-point font. Originals will not be returned, so keep a copy.
In the upper right hand corner, include your name, a parent or guardian’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, the name of your high school, Principal’s name and grade level. At the end of each submission, include an originality statement: “This will certify that the above work is completely original,” followed by your full name.
Poems must be e-mailed or postmarked by Oct. 1.
They can be submitted in the body of an e-mail to [email protected] or mail to:
Julissa Orozco, 1131 San Felipe Road, Hollister, CA 95023.
Winners and runner-ups will be notified during the Red Ribbon Run/Festival on Oct. 24.
