Here are the 10 talented student winners of our annual Haake Poetry Contest:
Winona Middle School
• 1st – $200 – Emily West – Chemistry for Cruelty
• 1st – $200 – Shekinah Bailey – Your Gaze
• 2nd – $100 – Nora Pollock – Don’t Wait
• 2nd – $100 – Drew Spalding – The Football Game
• 2nd – $100 – Ryan Speltz – In the Stillness of My Room
Winona Senior High School
• 1st – $200 – Will Kihanya – Hesitation
• 1st – $200 – Ashiiyah Alexander – Unstudied Silence
• 2nd – $100 – Alanys Lemke – Injuries Left
• 2nd – $100 – Marguerite Lungerhausen – Sonnet XI XVIII
• 2nd – $100 – Madilyn Gibbs – That Dreaded Word
A total of 84 poems were entered in the contest, with 53 from WMS and 31 from WSHS. All entries were assigned a code and student names were removed for the judging process. Judges included Winona community members Eileen Dahlin, Marcia Ratliff, and Ken McCullough.
In 2008, Dr. Paul Haake initiated a fund with the Foundation in memory of his father, Arnold, who was known for his love of poetry during his years at WSHS. The purpose of the fund was to support an annual poetry contest for WMS and WSHS students. Paul was a 1950 WSHS graduate who retained a strong bond to his hometown, giving generously to Winona’s educational institutions. He earned a BA and PhD from Harvard and went on to become a distinguished research chemist and educator at Wesleyan University and UCLA.
