Run a class poetry contest, scored overnight
Post the prompt, let students type their poems or photograph them off the page, and have a ranked result with written feedback for every entry before first period. Built for National Poetry Month — works any week of the year.
No credit card • 30 students • 2 free contests every month
Instead of
- a weekend spent reading 120 poems closely enough to defend a ranking
- a check mark as the only reply a quiet writer ever gets
- a bulletin board that comes down and takes the work with it
You can have
- every entry scored against a poetry rubric, in the time you actually have
- a short written rationale on every poem, not a number
- a certificate and a shareable award page the poem outlives
How it works with MeritBoard
- 1
Post the prompt and the deadline
Create a Poetry contest, write your prompt, set the window. Students submit by link — no student accounts, no app to install.
- 2
Students type it or photograph it
Typed entries paste straight in. Handwritten drafts are photographed with a phone and read from the image, so notebook poems count.
- 3
The computer scores against a poetry rubric
Imagery and language, emotional resonance, form and intentionality, voice and originality — each with a short written rationale. You can add your own criteria for the unit you actually taught.
- 4
You verify, then publish
Read the rationales, reorder anything you disagree with, click Confirm & Publish. Nothing is public until you say so.
Before you start
Does the computer decide who wins?
No. The computer drafts a ranking and the reasoning behind it. You are the judge of record — you can reorder the whole field, and nothing is published until you verify it.
Is my students’ writing used to train AI models?
Never. Poems are sent to our providers only to score that one contest, and are never used to train or improve any model.
Can students use AI tools to write their entries?
You decide, per contest. Each contest states its entry policy — from “original work only” to “AI-generated entries welcome” — and entrants confirm the rule when they submit.
What does it cost to try?
Nothing. The free plan covers 30 students and two contests every month. A poetry unit fits inside it.
Your next poetry unit ends with a podium
Set it up in under ten minutes. No credit card, no student accounts.
Get started free