New Poet’s Society president Rick Smith has announced the expansion of the society’s annual high school poetry contest, this year including Redmond, Eastlake and BEST High Schools from the Lake Washington School District and Bellevue and Interlake High Schools from the Bellevue School District.

Around 350 students have participated in classroom discussions and an undetermined number of entries will be submitted to teachers by April 10-14.

High school contest winners will be forwarded to the New Poet’s Society panel of judges to select overall winners on April 20.

An awards ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, April 26 at Redmond High School, 17272 NE 104th St. in Redmond.

School administrators, teachers, parents and the general public are invited to attend.

Student poetry contest winners will receive scholarships for college education. First prize, the Judge’s Choice Award, is a $1,000 scholarship. Five additional scholarship awards will be $500 each.

For further information, contact Rick Smith at rsmith2@hotmail.com.