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Innovative Young Poets Saluted in Great Falls BRIAN TROMPETER Staff Writer
They may be young and largely shielded so far from the harsh realities of life, but elementary-school students are quite perceptive and outspoken. That was the message when Great Falls Friends and Neighbors honored Great Falls Elementary School students April 3 as winners of the social club’s annual poetry contest, which drew 183 entries. Fourth-grader Amiliya Smith, who took home a second-place award in her grade category, awed the crowd at the awards reception, held at the Great Falls Grange. She recited her winning poem, “My Only Grandma Karen,” was a loving tribute to a late relative. But suddenly, I couldn’t smell the sweetest rose, There was no warm fuzzy blanket, no more gifts, nothing. Just a cold empty house that wasn’t singing anymore. Nika Kozyrenko, who received a third-place award in the fourth-grade category, had fun with her poem, “Spaghetti Seeds.” I went to Farmer Joe And I got new spaghetti seed And, oh, what I got this time Was worse Way worse For now I had rows and rows of ravioli. Tess Davis also struck whimsical notes in “Dreamland,” which won first place in the fourth-grade category. Yet more than that, there was love, and many unimaginable happenings. There were neckties made of macaroni, that hung below your shoes, and dust bunnies that you kept as pets, there were even streamers hanging from the chandeliers! Diego Tablett, who won first place in the fifth-grade category, wrote about random thoughts in “Something in mind.” I had something in mind. Not sure anymore, but I did. I forgot. It may have been one of those thoughts that make me tumble down in shame or It could have been one of those thoughts that make me fly up high in the sky. Two winning entries told exhilarating
Great Falls Elementary School students Amiliya Smith, Tess Davis, Claire Kim, Nika Kozyrenko, Peyton Walcott, Iona Cameron Cadenazzi, Diego Tablett and Gino Colabatistto pose with their certificates April 4 at Great Falls Friends and Neighbors’ 35th annual Poetry Contest award recepPHOTO BY BRIAN TROMPETER tion at the Grange in Great Falls. Not pictured: Emma Wolff.
stories of athletic exploits. Peyton Walcott earned a second-place award in the fifth-grade division for “The Surfer.” The tunnel collapses, I flip Caught in the churn of gold sand and foam I crash on the shore, then stand tall Grabbing my board again, taking a breath Every surfer must battle on. Gino Colabatistto won first place in the sixth-grade category for “Hockey.” Hours spent, alone on the ice, No-one knowing who you are, Only you are to blame, Keep at, keep working, And maybe one day You’ll be noticed. Fifth-grader Claire Kim, who took home a third-place certificate, captured the mystery and delight of winter in “The Snow Is Falling.” Within the snow a world is created anew To find the likes of it travel to the ends of the earth, past the horizon Where you’ll find a Land of a midnight sun A liquid moon,
A land of radiance Where dark stars lurk And solar systems stand still. Sixth-grader Iona Cameron Cadenazzi, who garnered a second-place award, employed repetition in “Take Me Back.” Take me back, take me back, take me back to the time When people were singing, And lullabies rhymed Take me back to the garden Where we used to play, Everything that I loved Has been taken away. Sixth-grader Emma Wolff, who was not able to attend the ceremony, received a third-place award for “Our Generation.” Our generation can do anything, But we risk becoming known for doing nothing. We have the means and technology To change things . . . But we can’t see past Our noses and devices. Great Falls Friends and Neighbors also honored Joanne Schilling, a reading specialist at Great Falls Elementary, for her work with students. The school’s principal, Sara Harper, said she was delighted with the pupils’ efforts.
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“Our students worked extremely hard and have a lot of wonderful talent,” Harper said. “We’re so very proud of them. Every year, I’m amazed at how the judges are even able to pick just the few that they chose, because the entries are wonderful. This year, the entries were a combination of serious, sad and funny. There was a wide range of emotions present.” The contest originally was open to children and adults alike in Great Falls, but eventually shifted to students only as the village grew over the decades, said lead judge Pat Kuehnel. Other judges included Pat Douglass, Lucy Juncal, Judie Keithley, Mary Ann Nocerino, Raylynn Oliver and Joyce Toor. Club leaders are considering extending the contest to include students from Forestville Elementary in Great Falls, Kuehnel said. The contest entries always are surprisingly varied, even after 35 years, she said. “You haven’t heard it all,” she said. “Each year, the poems are different. Some years we go through poems that are very, very serious and you could just see what the kids were reading or seeing on television. But this year, they were so happy and uplifting, just exciting.”
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