The power of a young person’s voice can change a community, and for a 17-year-old Moorhead student, that voice is now echoing across the entire state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Humanities Center, in partnership with the national organization Urban Word, has officially named Sienna Lee as the state’s first-ever Youth Poet Laureate.
In this role, Lee will spend the next year serving as a public ambassador for poetry. Her duties will take her statewide to perform, engage with communities, and participate in national youth poetry convenings, all while receiving specialized mentorship from top Minnesota-based poets and literary organizations.
For those who know Sienna within Moorhead High School hallways, this immense honor comes as no surprise. She is a relentless force for student leadership and creative expression. Lee currently serves as the Executive Editor of the Minnesota-Dakotas Key Club, representing more than 3,000 students across three states.
Her creative talents span far beyond the written word. A true multidisciplinary artist, Lee has been published in the Minnesota English Journal and is a multiple Scholastic Arts and Writing Award across four distinct categories: poetry, journalism, digital art, and painting. Her profound impact on our region was further recognized when she was named the youngest nominee for the 2026 YWCA Cass-Clay Woman of the Year award.
Lee’s poetry often digs deep into the human experience, exploring culture, transition, and identity. In her beautifully poignant piece, First Meal, she captures the quiet, vulnerable moments of a family adjusting to a new country, watching a sibling “sharpening his r’s and l’s into the shape of this new country.”
What makes Sienna’s outlook truly unique is her passion for breaking down traditional academic silos. She is a vocal advocate for interdisciplinary creativity, teaching her peers that fields like STEM and the arts are not opposing paths, but complementary forces that drive real innovation.
Please join Moorhead Area Public Schools in congratulating Sienna Lee on this monumental, historic achievement! We cannot wait to see where her words take her this year.
