Pinole, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/24/2010 -- 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 association 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 librarians, educators, and parents – people who are interested in teaching and promoting 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 present themselves."

Following National Punctuation Day's 2009 celebration, which featured a baking contest, the 2010 event announced the first-ever Punctuation Haiku Contest, to draw attention to the poetry of great punctuation. Three hundred and fifty-six people - from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy (in Italian!) submitted more than 3,000 haikus! Judges whittled 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; Mike Montgomery, talk show host at WBGZ radio, in Alton, IL; Roberta Guise, principal 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, Anna Fruen, Dave Gaertner, Dave Gash, Michelle Green, Ken Guzik, Philip Kranyak, Larry McGee, Della McGuire, Sara Michael, Gloria Millner, Monica Mueller, Tom Murawski, Tessa Nunn, Morgan O'Brien, Nikki Savage, Angela Shetler, Shannon Smith, Michelle Stewart, Jaelynne Tolman, Melanie Webber, and Michael Wright. They represent 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, (Bellevue, Washington), Churchland Middle School (Portsmouth, Virginia), Spring Hill Elementary School (McLean, Virginia), St. John the Baptist Catholic School (Madison, Alabama), St. Luke School (Columbus, Georgia), Saint Paul's School (Covington, Louisiana), West Noble Middle School (Ligonier, Indiana), St. John LaLande School (Blue Springs, Missouri), Ockerman Middle School (Florence, Kentucky), Vernon Center Middle School (Vernon, Connecticut), Wantagh Middle School (Wantagh, New York), and West Seneca East Middle School (West Seneca, New York), for their excellent contest entries.

Among the favorites of NPD founder and chief punctioneer Jeff Rubin was this haiku, 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.PunctuationPlaytime.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 broad radio and TV coverage in the United States - including a short segment on Regis 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 publication, The Teacher's Calendar, two important directories published by McGraw-Hill.

The NPD website - in addition to highlighting the latest in literacy news and featuring incorrectly punctuated signs from all over the world - serves as a resource that helps educators teach good writing skills, and helps students understand the basics of punctuation. Business people worldwide use it as a reference guide.

There's even a punctuation newsletter! The Exclamation Point! ( http://bit.ly/TheExclamationPoint )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/