Best Punctuation Haikus Chosen in National Punctuation Day Contest

Judges choose from over 3,000 entries to select the 25 best Haikus about the imp
ortance of proper punctuation, to complete the National Punctuation Day Contest.
Entries were submitted from around the world, including the United States, Cana
da, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy (in Italian!)
Pinole, CA - December 20, 2010 -- Twenty-five people have been judged as authors
of the best punctuation haikus in the world by an esteemed panel of judges who
know about these things. The first ever Punctuation Haiku Contest was held in as
sociation with the 7th Annual National Punctuation Day, September 24, 2010.
National Punctuation Day, held every September 24, was founded by Jeff Rubin in
2004. A former newspaper reporter, Rubin uses the event to draw attention to the
importance of proper punctuation in education and business. "It's a day for lib
rarians, educators, and parents â people who are interested in teaching and promotin
g good writing skills to their students and their children," explains Rubin. "It
's also a day to remind business people that they are often judged by how they p
resent themselves."
Following National Punctuation Day's 2009 celebration, which featured a baking c
ontest, the 2010 event announced the first-ever Punctuation Haiku Contest, to dr
aw attention to the poetry of great punctuation. Three hundred and fifty-six peo
ple - from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New
Zealand, and Italy (in Italian!) submitted more than 3,000 haikus! Judges whitt
led the entries down to the 150 best. Then five judges received 30 entries each,
with instructions to pick their top 5.
The judges were: Susan Craton, reporter for The Enterprise, in California, MD; M
ike Montgomery, talk show host at WBGZ radio, in Alton, IL; Roberta Guise, princ
ipal of Guise Marketing and Public Relations, in San Francisco; Chris Treadway,
columnist for the West County Times, in Richmond, CA; and Jeff Rubin, founder of
National Punctuation Day ( http://www.NationalPunctuationDay.com/ ).
The winners are: Randal Carlson, Sarah Carzoli, Jonathan Darr, Lex Friedman, Ann
a Fruen, Dave Gaertner, Dave Gash, Michelle Green, Ken Guzik, Philip Kranyak, La
rry McGee, Della McGuire, Sara Michael, Gloria Millner, Monica Mueller, Tom Mura
wski, Tessa Nunn, Morgan O'Brien, Nikki Savage, Angela Shetler, Shannon Smith, M
ichelle Stewart, Jaelynne Tolman, Melanie Webber, and Michael Wright. They repre
sent the United States, Canada, England, France, and New Zealand.
View The Winning Punctuation Haiku Here: http://bit.ly/PunctuationHaiku
Rubin sends special thanks to the teachers and students at Anamosa High School (
Anamosa, Iowa), Glen Grove School (Glenview, Illinois), Hale Elementary School (
Hale, Missouri), K.P.I (Brooklyn, New York), Mazzuchelli Catholic Middle School
(Dubuque, Iowa), Mirman School (Los Angeles, California), Open Window School, (B
ellevue, Washington), Churchland Middle School (Portsmouth, Virginia), Spring Hi
ll Elementary School (McLean, Virginia), St. John the Baptist Catholic School (M
adison, Alabama), St. Luke School (Columbus, Georgia), Saint Paul's School (Covi
ngton, Louisiana), West Noble Middle School (Ligonier, Indiana), St. John LaLand
e School (Blue Springs, Missouri), Ockerman Middle School (Florence, Kentucky),
Vernon Center Middle School (Vernon, Connecticut), Wantagh Middle School (Wantag
h, New York), and West Seneca East Middle School (West Seneca, New York), for th
eir excellent contest entries.
Among the favorites of NPD founder and chief punctioneer Jeff Rubin was this hai
ku, submitted by Jacob Hewson, of Saint Paul's School (Covington, Louisiana):
All English teachers
Say I cannot punctuate.
What do they all mean;
See more about Jeff Rubin and Punctuation Playtime in the videos at http://www.P
unctuationPlaytime.com/.
About National Punctuation Day
NPD has received worldwide media attention, with newspaper coverage from Manila
to London, from Ghana to Toronto, and from Seoul to Seattle, in addition to broa
d radio and TV coverage in the United States - including a short segment on Regi
s and Kelly in 2008 and a one-hour online chat on The Washington Post website in
2009.
NPD is recognized by Chase's Calendar of Events and listed in its sister publica
tion, The Teacher's Calendar, two important directories published by McGraw-Hill
.
The NPD website - in addition to highlighting the latest in literacy news and fe
aturing incorrectly punctuated signs from all over the world - serves as a resou
rce that helps educators teach good writing skills, and helps students understan
d the basics of punctuation. Business people worldwide use it as a reference gui
de.
There's even a punctuation newsletter! The Exclamation Point! ( http://bit.ly/Th
eExclamationPoint )contains articles on the latest literacy news from around the
world, book reviews, and commentary.
For more information about Jeff Rubin and National Punctuation Day, call Jeff at
(877) 588-1212 (toll free), or e-mail Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com
Press Contact:
Jeff Rubin
National Punctuation Day
Pinole, CA
(877) 588-1212
jeff@nationalpunctuationday.com
http://www.PunctuationPlaytime.com/