On behalf of the Korea Foundation, the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University presents the winners of the Fall 2024 Sijo Student Competition for K-12 students to honor the traditional Korean form of poetry. Entries from Kentucky and Ohio were received from May 2023 - October 15, 2024. More information is available at http://easc.osu.edu/sijo. Winners from the Fall 2024 competition are listed below.
Past winners can be found at:
2023-24 Sijo Competition Winners
2023 Sijo Competition Winners
2022 Sijo Competition Winners
2021 Sijo Competition Winners
(Listed alphabetically)
Co-Winners:
Emily Crabtree
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
Her brush swept from water to paint, turned paper into blues; stem’s rose,
Petals bent on toothy rag, squander the wet, streaming irises
I painted a bunny, much like I’d done in second grade.
Jace Mills
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
Soldiers are constantly fighting all day and night for us.
Dad was gone for several months fighting for me and Mom.
Suddenly, a knock on the door from two soldiers, it wasn't dad.
Honorable Mention:
Joshlyn Caplinger
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
I’ve been alone for four or five years since my father left.
My mom, now a single parent, scared, and protective over me.
Started sixth grade nervous; now I have friends who make me smile and laugh.
Aubrie Friesenhengst
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
Studying long hours to get that perfect grade on that hard test,
Walking class to class, constantly dreading the work you’ll get.
Suddenly, you’re in a cap and gown, wishing time would come back.
Reid Hunt
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
Oh how I love fall; it is the best season of them all,
With pretty leaves falling, frosty weather calling, and trees balding.
However, some get a runny nose, while others can't feel their toes.
Kasper Lewis
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
War inside Israel, destruction and death inside Ukraine,
A bunch of mourning, a lot of pain just for a little more land.
Yet we live in peace, safe from harm, safe from war, safe to live.
Aiden Wilson
8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
Peacefully at the park, as my mother sat on the bench,
I glanced at her. I then realized how grateful I was for her.
Looking gloomy towards that casket, I shed a tear and cry.
Winner:
Jaydon Moss
11th Grade, Millersport High School
I will break the back of this long, midwinter night,
Folding it double, cold beneath my spring quilt,
That I may draw out the night, should my love return.
Runner-up:
Axel Bidlack
11th Grade, Wayne Trace High School
After crumbling in my hand, the charcoal is now on the page
The shapes start to form and her eyes show a soul that stares out
She's watching and waiting for her completion in the artist's life
Honorable Mention:
Naomi Gyimah
9th Grade, Licking Heights High School
I am constantly running from the monsters that haunt me.
Tightly gripping pieces of me that the monsters will snatch.
Constantly running away from an evil that does not exist.
Coordinated by the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University and sponsored in part by the Korea Foundation and a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant to the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University.