Three local students have been selected as state winners in a Garden Club of Kentucky poetry-writing competition.

The winners include first-grader June Crews at Alvaton Elementary School, second- grader Preston Adams at Holy Trinity Lutheran School and sixth- grader Felicity Gonzalez-Quevedo at Alvaton Elementary.

June took first place in the state and regional competitions, according to Carol Adams of the Alvaton-based Two Creeks Garden Club.

All poems must be sponsored by a local club, she said. Each year, the club encourages students to think about the natural world by writing poems based on a certain theme. This year’s theme was “Let it grow.”

June’s first-grade teacher, Carolyn Gifford, said she’s had several regional and state winners in her class over the past 17 years that she’s participated in the competition.

“It helps promote poetry writing for the kids,” she said.