Siouxland student wins national award for poem - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

He won first place at his school, then he took the top spot in the state, all before going on to the national level and finishing in the top four in the country.

For Grant Nieuwendorp's first crack at being a poet, the third grader from Sioux City's Clark Elementary didn't do too bad.

Grant Nieuwendorp said, "I was pretty surprised."

His first poem, titled "People" placed in the top four in a National PTA contest, which had entries from kindergartners to high schoolers.

Nieuwendorp, "It's about how people are different in ways so I just thought of some ways that people are different."

The 24-line poem about diversity just came to him.

Nieuwendorp, "I just thought of it right there and I just wrote it."

Grant's mother Jody, says she would of loved the poem, even if it didn't win any awards.

Jody Nieuwendorp said, "As a proud mom, of course I was thinking it was a great poem."

The poem is a testament of what both of his parents try and teach Grant.

Grant's father, Mark said, "Although people are different, that doesn't mean that people should be looked down upon for being different."

Nieuwendorp ended the poem with, "Whether their hair, skin color, or clothes, yet everyone is the same in a way."