Student Contest -- STEAM-Themed Poems

      A varied and energetic and very valuable voice for the importance of connections between mathematics and poetry is STEAM-Poetry advocate Heidi Bee Roemer.  Here is a link to her focus on mathy poems.  (STEAM is a popular abbreviation for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics.)

Recently Romer has opened registration for a STEAM Poetry Video Contest. Between now and April 30, 2026, students can choose a STEAM-themed poem (from a selection of 40 poems), create short videos for their younger peers, and enter them in the contest.  Contest details are here.

     And here is a sample poem by Roemer -- a mathy poem written for elementary-school students.

Student Contest -- STEAM Powered Poetry Videos

     For some of us, holidays -- Thanksgiving and Christmas and . . . -- offer time to explore new projects.  Here is a project for math/science students to try -- the Steam Powered Poetry Contest (entries September to April).   

Students in Jr. High, High School and College/University create 1-minute videos showcasing their STEAM poems. No entry fee. Contest is open from September to April every year.   More information here.

Below I offer is a sample poem (for which a video entry may be created) by contest organizer Heidi Bee Roemer.  Find lots of samples at this link -- and encourage students you know to consider entry.

Counting into the Future . . .

     Remember that you have only until November 1 to submit a winning "poem of provocation and witness" to the Split This Rock Poetry Contest.  If you don't already,  you will want also to subscribe to Split This Rock's Poem of the Week.  This week's poem ("Past Tense" by Sam Taylor) opens with these numbers:

       In the Great Depression of 2047,
       a time of sorrow rivaled only
       by the Global Unification Wars
       of Spring 2029 to 2033,
       in the Merlona Plague of 2104, 
       in the year of the forest die-off,
       after the atmospheric hue reduction . . . .

From Nude Descending an Empire (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014).  Apatelodes merlona is a species of moth.

Haiku to Mars -- select and vote

     Each of us may now (July 15 - 29) vote for one of the thousands of Haiku submitted to NASA's "Haiku for Mars" contest. Three top vote-getters will be selected for transmission to our red planet. I invite you to vote (at this link) for my entry. My contest Haiku also is shown below; it follows a particular number scheme -- formed from one-syllable words with word-lengths following this pattern: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

I go for Mars, start

dreams -- flights straight, stretched, streamed, whirled bright.

Round bold red am I.

THANKS for your vote.