The 2020 Ross Andrews Nature Poetry Contest has begun.
Ross Andrews was a young environmental educator who believed in the importance of the Natural World and Humans’ relationship to it. He spent years developing his own deeper relationship to Earth. Even as a soil and forestry restoration scientist, Ross knew that the key to our collective futures was through the heart and spirit. He found that poetry was the path to express his passion for the beauty, wonder, awe and/or intimacy that one experiences with the natural world.
Ross spent the last eight years of his life working with young people and helping them reconnect in deeper relationships with the Earth. In honor of his death, his friends and relatives have chosen to remember him with an annual Nature Poetry contest.
This contest is for ages 5 and up. There are five categories: Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and Adult. Each category winner will be given a monetary award and a copy of Ross' book, Wild Peace. Additionally, the highly prized Chestnut Oak Award will be awarded to a poem that most represents the epitome of Ross' spirit.
The deadline for all entries is March 31, 2020. Contest results will be announced in mid-April. Those who submitted a winning entry are invited to an awards ceremony at Historic Yates Mill County Park on April 24.