The Northeastern Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is sponsoring an illustrated poem contest for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Contest Deadline: Sunday, October 25 by 11:59 PM ET 

Prizes: ACS Glass Beaker Mug, Apparel, and Mole Merchandise

Contact: Dr. Ray Lam (ncw@nesacs.org)

ENTRY FORM
Winners of the Northeastern Local Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and to win prizes!

Write and illustrate a poem using the NCW theme, “Chemistry Under Construction”

Your poem must be no more than 40 words and in the following styles to be considered:

HAIKU – LIMERICK – ODE – ABC POEM – FREE VERSE – END RHYME – BLANK VERSE

Possible topics related to the theme include:

• Chemical reaction
• Molecules
• Copper
• Rust
• Adhesive

• Concrete
• Cement
• Insulation
• Metal
• Polymers

Entries will be judged based upon:

• Artistic Merit – use of color, quality of drawing, design, and layout
• Poem Message – fun, motivational, inspiring about yearly theme
• Originality Creativity – unique, clever and/or creative design
• Neatness – free of spelling and grammatical errors

Contest rules:

• All poems must be no more than 40 words, and in one of the following styles to be considered: Haiku, Limerick, Ode, ABC poem, Free verse, End rhyme, and Blank verse.
• Entries are judged based upon relevance to and incorporation of the yearly topic (the 2026 topic is Construction), the word choice and the imagery, colorful artwork, adherence to poem style, originality and creativity, and overall presentation.
• All entries must be original works without aid from others. Physical drawings may be scanned or captured via camera and submitted digitally. Illustrations may be created using crayons, watercolors, other types of paint, colored pencils, or markers.
• The illustration may also be electronically created by using a digital painting and drawing app on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. If the illustration is created using a digital painting or drawing app, the name of the program must be included on the entry form. 
• Use of AI in any form (i.e. written or pictorial) is strictly prohibited.
• The text of the poem should be easy to read and may be typed before the hand-drawn or digital illustration is added, or the poem may be written on lined paper, which is cut out and pasted onto the unlined paper with the illustration.

• No clipart or unoriginal images can be used.
• Only one entry per student will be accepted (without assistance from others).
• Students must be sponsored by a school or another sponsoring community group (e.g., Homeschool Association, Boys and Girls Club, Scout Troop, 4-H, etc.).
• Acceptance of prizes constitutes consent to use winners’ names, likenesses, and entries for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes.
• Students must have parental/guardian permission and signature to enter the contest.
• No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Sponsored by the American Chemical Society. All rights reserved. All information provided herein pertains to the Illustrated Poem Content. This information may be updated or changed for future contests.

Student Submissions

K-12 students must submit their illustrated poems directly to the coordinators of their local contests. To contact your local coordinator, visit www.ncwlookup.acs.org.

If there is no nearby local section or if the designated local section is not able to process submissions, entries may be directed to a neighboring local section.