Middle school student wins first place in TIME poetry contest.
Inica Kotasthane WARREN -- School locker problems can be a frustrating experience for students, but not for Warren Middle School student Inica Kotasthane, who turned her locker problems into poetry.
Kotasthane was named the Grand Prize winner in the 2017 TIME for Kids Poetry Contest. Her poem? "My Locker is a Monster."
"I got most of my inspiration for the poem from what happens pretty much every day ... my locker is jammed and all of my stuff is stuck inside. I think it's a cute poem that a lot of middle school kids can relate to," said Kostasthane.
Students -- ages 8 to 13 -- were invited to submit an original, funny, rhyming poem, which was judged by the Poetry Foundation Children's Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt. The grand prize winner received an online visit from Nesbitt, and the winner and three finalists' work will be published on timeforkids.com.
"Congratulations, Inica. You won!" said Nesbitt during a Skype session. "That's no small feat because we received 1,500 submissions and yours was the best."
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