Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park announces winners in What Peace Means to Me contest

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 “What Peace Means To Me” Contest. 

A panel of Rotarians judged all of the entries in each of five categories of awards (Kindergarten to 2nd Grade, 3rd to 4th Grade, 5th to 8th Grade, 9th to 12th Grade, Adult, and for this year only, a Special award based on topicality). 

We were very pleased with the thoughtfulness and the wide range of genres that were represented: haiku, digital illustration, sculpture, essay, poetry, and artwork. This is the contest’s second year and we received three times the number of entries as last year. We look forward to next year’s entries!

We invite and encourage everyone interested in Rotary to investigate how we support the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and our Peacebuilder Mission by attending one of our meetings. 

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park meets every Wednesday via Zoom. Our virtual 7:15am and our meeting begins at 7:30am, ending promptly at 8:30am. To join the Zoom session, please use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85142410960

We sincerely thank everyone who entered the Contest!

The winners are as follows:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Category: India Free

Third to Fifth Grade Category: Carmen Skurski

Sixth to Eighth Grade Category: Alexa Graeff

Ninth to Twelfth Grade Category:  Cadence Rotarius

(Spoken version was also submitted)

My minds a scatter plot, 
lines crossing in un-uniform ways, 
laced with different insults everyday. 
The amount of times I’ve missed my shot 
at doing something for me, 
because I didn’t live up to the expectations of who I thought I should be. 
If life’s a game why can’t I have fun
doing what I want to,
cause I’m too busy thinking about what I should do? 
When will I learn what peace means?
It’s only come to me in my dreams. 
Where the voices cease, 
and the only words I hear won’t hurt me. 
A time my heart stays in its chest,
and I have no fear cause I already know that I’m at my best. 
A life of endless possibilities. 
No holding back, having confidence in my abilities. 
This is what peace means to me. 
Stepping away from all our insecurities. 
Trusting that we will succeed, 
letting ourselves fully breathe. 
Believing that no one goes against us, 
and if they do we won’t make a fuss. 
We’re stronger than we think we are. 
Life is hard, yet we’ve made it this far. 
What’s keeping us from calming down
is the same thing causing us to walk around 
with these faulty perceptions 
and inaccurate self reflections. 
A world without these is what we need. 
This is what peace means to me. 

Ninth to Twelfth Grade Category: Cadence Rotarius

(Spoken version was also submitted)

Adult Category:  Wendy Russell

Adult Category: Wendy Russell

Special Category:  Lily Fredericks

See her story "Knowing" here