Young poets left to right: Emily Prosser, Paige Haire, Carmen Maria Saracho, Tia Arseneault, Kieran Arney, Liz Wignall, Jordan Grandfield. Missing from the photo is Emily Reimer.
Eight grade 8 students at Spencer Middle School are soon to be published authors thanks to their meaningful poetic verses and thanks to their English Language Arts teacher Mrs. Nixon.
A part of the curriculum in the English Language Arts class is to write free verse poetry. After reading her students creative writing, Mrs. Nixon entered her students’ poems into the free Young Writers Poetry Contest. The contest is run Canada wide and entries are reviewed and chosen by editorial staff. All of the poems from Mrs. Nixon’s class were accepted, which is a rare occurrence.
“They were so excited and a couple of them couldn’t believe it,” says Nixon. “Carmen, our international student from Mexico was in disbelief. They were proud because they know they worked hard. ”
A few of the topics our young poets chose to write about include writers block, music, summer, imagination, and running (a metaphor). This isn’t the end of the road yet as the students are also entered into a second part of the contest which includes the possibility of winning money. The poems will be published in the Young Writers poetry anthology in June 2014.
Enjoy a couple of verses from our student authors.
A Writer’s Quest
My mind calms,
and I embrace the moment,
realising that my “nothing”
has become something. – Kieran Arney, grade 8
Piano
I can’t stop myself
The music healing my ears
Moving my hands right and left
Playing for years and years – Carmen Maria, grade 8
Read the congratulatory letter from the Poetry Institute of Canada
