To blend community engagement and student success, student in the creative writing class are writing poems for 55th Annual Collin County Poetry Contest.

“I’ve known about the contest before, our department chair would send us an email about it and we usually posted it on google classroom, but I never really gave it much thought,” creative writing and English teacher Cherie Smith said. “But then I was at a creative writing collaboration with the other two schools and I found out that Plano East has been competing every year for a grade.”

This contest is open to anyone in Collin County, and winners will receive certificates and an anthology. The winning poems selected will be included in the 2026 Winner’s Anthology.

“I’m feeling pretty confident about it,” senior Rylan Ivey Keith said. “What I find enjoyable about poetry is that you’re able to express yourself without really having to say it.”

The poetry contest is open to everyone in Collin county, and the winners are chosen from each grade level.

“I am not very concerned about winning or even doing well in the contest, but I am happy I tried,” Junior Faisal Hamadeh said. “Writing the poetry structure was more enjoyable than I thought it would be.”

For further questions, reach out to Mockingbird member Beth Ayers at [email protected].