LIGONIER VALLEY
WRITERS
STUDENT POETRY CONTEST 2026 WINNERS
Local Students Win Poetry Prizes
Students from schools throughout southwestern Pennsylvania won awards in Ligonier Valley Writers' 36th annual Student Poetry Awards on Saturday. Thirty cash prizes were handed out and the students read their winning poems to a standing-room-only audience.
Award Presentation and Reading at Greensburg Barnes & Noble
Congratulations to our 2026 Winners!
Photo caption: Winners of Ligonier Valley Writers’ Student Poetry Contest 2026.
First row, left to right: Minerva Hall (Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy); Audrey Terry (Derry Area Middle School).
Second row, left to right: Charlie Zelazny (Ligonier Valley Middle School); Blake Flickinger (LVMS); Hunner Wood (LVMS); Ariella Gunn (LVMS); Elliot Michel (LVMS).
Third row, left to right: Maria Gacek (West Hempfield MS); Chloe Olson (Jeannette Junior High); Serena Boddie (Jeannette Junior High); Gia Fornalczyk (Jeannette Senior High); Aisley DeFelice (Jeannette Junior High); Rosalita Bobby (Somerset Area Junior High); Van Bobby (Somerset Area Junior High),
Fourth row, left to right: Cherith Smith (homeschooled); Caylin Raymond (Southmoreland HS); Allison Garsteck (Southmoreland HS); Jordan Martin (Jeannette Senior High).
Several winners are missing from the photo.
Naccarato Awards: The Best of the Best
The John L. Naccarato Memorial Award, sponsored by Michele Jones, is awarded for the poem that is judged the best of the best in each age group. Winners are Ariella Gunn of Ligonier Valley Middle School for “Beautiful Night” (grades 4-6), Van Bobby of Somerset Area Junior High School for “Love Language” (grades 7-9) and Caylin Raymond of Southmoreland High School for “Flickering Years” (grades 10-12).
Grades 4-6
First-prize winner of the Jane Robb Gallagher Memorial Award for rhymed verse (sponsored by Judith Gallagher) is Charlie Zelazny for her poem “Summer Fishing.” Second-prize winner is Colton Frayvolt for “Little Yellow Writer.” Third-prize winner is Hunner Wood for “The Amazing Hockey Player.” All three are Ligonier Valley Middle School students.
Winners of the Jim and Glenda Busch Memorial Award for unrhymed verse (sponsored by the Busch family) are Minerva Hall of Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy for “Broken Glass” (first prize), Audrey Terry of Derry Area Middle School for “The Thinking Box” (second prize) and Rosalita Bobby of Somerset Area Junior High School for “Queen of the Court” (third prize).
Winners of the Henry Clay and Gladys Maas Pruitt Memorial Award for haiku (sponsored by Candace Green) are Gracie Mack for “Fish for Dinner!” (first prize), Elliot Michel for “Mystery Mining” (second prize) and Blake Flickinger for “Chilly Season” (third prize). All three are Ligonier Valley Middle School students.
Grades 7-9
First-prize winner of the Highview Farm Award for traditional verse (sponsored by Sally Shirey) is Van Bobby of Somerset Area Junior High School for “Brain Rot.” Second-prize winner is Gia Fornalczyk of Jeannette Senior High for “Secret Beauty.” Third-prize winner is Jordan Martin, also of Jeannette Senior High, for “Formula Sonnet.”
First-prize winner of the Shirey Poetry Award for free verse (also sponsored by Sally Shirey) is Chloe Olson of Jeannette Junior High for “The Day Everything Changed.” Second-prize winner is Van Bobby of Somerset Area Junior High for “An Evening at Home.” Third-prize winner is Serena Boddie of Jeannette Junior High for “My Favorite Necklace.”
First-prize winner of the Ogden Nash Award for light humorous verse (sponsored by Anita Staub) is Maria Gacek of West Hempfield Middle School for “Fantastic Freckles.” Second-prize winner is Aisley DeFelice of Jeannette Junior High for “Vinegar Valentine.” Third-prize winner is Cherith Smith, homeschooled, for “I Frown While Upside-Down.”
Grades 10-12
In Grades 10-12, the first-prize winner of the Dr. Len Roberts Memorial Award for traditional verse (sponsored by Ruth McDonald) is Lennon Bobby of Shanksville-Stonycreek High School for “Working Teen Blues.” Second-prize winner is Sawyer Newhouse of Derry Area High School for “Billionaires Are Your Friends.” Third-prize winner is Caylin Raymond of Southmoreland High School for “Washed Clean.”
Lennon Bobby of Shanksville-Stonycreek High School won first prize in the Hayden Savinda Memorial Award for free verse (sponsored by Ronald J. Shafer) for “Because of Mrs. Bush.” Second-prize winner is Allison Garsteck of Southmoreland High School for “A Version of Me I Only Am at Night.” Third-prize winner is Savannah Gareis of Norwin High School for “Safety Feels Like This.”
First-prize winner of the Marie Martin Memorial Award for romantic poetry (sponsored by Phil and Mary Lou Fleming) is Caylin Raymond of Southmoreland High School for “Pressed Flowers.” Second-prize winner is Vivien Wang of Bryn Mawr School for “Seventeen Minutes before Dusk.” Third-prize winner is Lennon Bobby of Shanksville-Stonycreek High School for “Ancient Love in Modern Times.”
Multiple Winners
Three talented poets won three awards each: Van Bobby of Somerset Area Junior High School, his brother Lennon Bobby of Shanksville-Stonycreek High School, and Caylin Raymond of Southmoreland High School.
Teachers Kelly Ankney of Ligonier Valley Middle School and Katie Fawcett of Jeannette Senior High tied for the most winning students this year. Each has five students who wrote prize-winning poems.
Bethany Hutira of Southmoreland High School has four prize-winning students. Amber Contrillo of Somerset Area Junior High School and Lynda Beth Custer of Shanksville-Stonycreek High School each have three winners. Paula Brown of Ligonier Valley Middle School has two winning students,
The awards were presented at a ceremony at the Greensburg Barnes & Noble on Saturday. The student poets read their winning poems aloud to the audience.
Ligonier Valley Writers is an all-volunteer nonprofit group serving writers and readers throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. For more about LVW events, publications, and writing contests, visit www.lvwonline.org or LVW’s Facebook page.