WHAT:              On Wednesday, February 19, Mayor Bill Finch will join Roosevelt School students and teachers in a poetry rally to promote the fourth annual “Words on Wheels” poetry contest in conjunction with Greater Bridgeport Transit.

Roosevelt teacher Ron Rapice started Words on Wheels in 2011 as a way to foster an interest in poetry as an art form and a means of expression. Students in grades K-12 can submit original pieces of poetry, of which about 75 will be displayed in Greater Bridgeport Transit buses – hence the name “Words on Wheels.”

Last year, more than 700 pieces of original poetry were entered in the contest and the selections were posted in GBT buses during April, May and June. The selected poets were honored by the Board of Education, and were invited to a City Council meeting where they received citations from Mayor Finch and the City Council for their work.  Funding for the project is provided by General Electric and the Bridgeport Public Education Fund.

Mayor Bill Finch will join Rapice and students at Roosevelt School on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 10:30 a.m. for a rally to encourage student participation in the contest.

The deadline for entries is March 10, and must be submitted via email in a Word document to Ron Rapice at rrapice@bridgeportedu.net. Guidelines are as follows: poems must be the original work of the student with a 10-line maximum; all forms of poetry are accepted with emphasis on verse as opposed to acrostic style.  Topic and subject matter are completely up to the student, and all students will be invited to read their works at the annual Poetry Slam in April.

WHERE:       Roosevelt School, 160 Iranistan Ave., Bridgeport, CT

WHEN:         10:30 a.m., Wednesday, February 19