Scholarships | Bob Schulze Poetry Contest

Thanks to the generosity of community members dedicated to the scholastic development of area students, scholarship funds have been established to help local students continue their education and expand their talents and dreams. Since the Scholarship Program began, the Community Foundation has facilitated over $240.000 in awards to local students.

Click here to learn more about this year's recipients.

Grand Prize Winner Claire Fleming and Harbor Springs Middle School teacher Monica Graham.

Harbor Springs Middle School Principal Wil Cwikiel telling audience members about “The Man Behind the Contest”.

This year 172 students from five Emmet County schools submitted poems for the Bob Schulze Poetry Contest.  The winning poem was "Lake Dancers" by Claire Flemming, from Harbor Springs Middle School.  She received a $100 award!  Twenty five other students received awards and read their poems ina ceremony hosted by HSMS at the Harbor Springs Performing Arts Center. 

Click here to read the winning poems!

Bob Schulze was a long-time summer resident of the area north of Harbor Springs who loved the woods and the beach, and loved to write poetry. As a boy in Springfield, Illinois, Bob won a writing prize that sparked his lifetime interest in writing.

The Schulze family decided to use funds given for Bob’s memorial to start a poetry prize open to youngsters of middle school age, whether in the local Emmet County schools, home school or summer visitors. The grand prize for the winning entry is $100. In addition, there are prizes for winning entries from each participating middle school ($25) and from the Emmet County libraries.  Often there are also honorable mention awards as well ($10).  An advisory committee made up of members selected by the Schulze family chooses the winning entries.

Each year students submit poems in late fall and winners are announced early in the new year.