The March Madness Poetry 2015 party is over, giving way to National Poetry Month events and celebrations all around the #kidlitosphere this April. But no party is complete without presents, so it’s time to finally announce this year’s #MMPoetry Grand Prize — and Second and Third prize — winning classrooms!
I took your feedback from last year and split the mega Grand Prize into multiple smaller prizes (now 5, 10, and 25 books), so this year — in addition to our many daily book winners — three well-deserving classrooms are about to add a new set of poetry books to their room or library.
As a reminder, classrooms earned one chance to win with each official classroom vote that they cast during the event. The more they voted, the more chances they had to win a prize!
With that … HERE ARE OUR WINNERS:
Third Prize (5 Books):
Ms. Jennifer Sebring, Mundelein, IL — Jennifer led a group of 20 9-11yo’s through the event, voting in 37 matchups. Thank you and congratulations, Jennifer!
Second Prize (10 Books):
Ms. Trish Emerson, Brielle, NJ — Trish led three groups of kids through the event, each voting in at least 50 matchups! Technically, the winning group was her group of 20 12-14yo’s that voted in 61 of 63 matchups! Thank you and congratulations, Trish!
Grand Prize (25 Books):
Mrs. Jamie Slear, Lansing, MI — Jamie led a group of 22 9-11yo’s through the event. Fun fact: Jamie was the very first teacher to sign her classroom up for the event this year. Also, though she estimated that she and her class would vote in only 10 matchups, they ended up voting in 32! For this, they were awarded far more chances to win, and look what happened! 
Thank you and congratulations, Jamie!
I will contact each of you privately to get your mailing addresses so that we can send you your books!
Thank you again to ALL of the kids who participated and the teachers, librarians, and other educators who facilitated their involvement. YOU are the reason that we do this! I also appreciate the loads of feedback (mostly positive!) received throughout the event and your commitment to participate again (and help spread the word even further) in future years. THANK YOU!
