Finding your true heart song
by Christi Marsico
Creating and communicating experiences with words, five young poets from Crest Hill Elementary School explained exactly why poetry was worth their time --especially when it comes to missing recess.
As they sat around a circular table with smiles of intrigue, Mrs. Lori Lancaster, who has taught creative writing at Crest Hill for 15 years, gently introduced them one at a time.
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Their poetry has been accepted for publication by Creative Communication Inc., and will be featured in a book called "A Celebration of Young Poets" this coming fall.
Jeremy Young is a fourth-grader who wrote his poem about the sights and sounds of baseball, titled "The Roar of the Crowd."
He was inspired to write about a moment during a Casper Rockies game, when a Casper pitcher struck out another team. It took him about 45 minutes to accomplish.
While his favorite food is steak and his favorite colors are blue and red, his favorite thing about poetry is words.
"Poetry makes you think about words, not just everyday words, but new and exciting words," Jeremy said.
Fresh and stimulating words also encouraged third-grader Andrew Wanbaugh to write a poem about his first camping trip titled "Voice and Echoes."
Andrew had to rewrite this piece a few times, which aided him in creating an echo effect, cleverly repeating the poem twice in a different sized font.
Even though his favorite thing about poetry is the cadence of rhymes for their effect and remembrance, his poem doesn't rhyme. It focuses on his memories.
Andrew has two black labs named Jake and Jessie, and his least favorite chore is cleaning up after them.
When the bell sounded, other kids headed out to recess. First-grader Alexis Holscher spelled her name.
Poetry is interesting to Alexis because it rhymes and makes her feel good.
Her first poem, "Pink," is about the color. While her favorite line in her poem is about her pink stuffed animals, she is reminded of another poem she has written about her brother.
"The wind irritates me, just like my brother," Alexis said with a grin.
This youngster has lost two teeth so far and received "golden dollars" for them. Her favorite type of music is from “High School Musical.”
Mrs. Lancaster brings up that music can be poetry, which initiates an improvisational ditty about pink by Jeremy.
As the bell rang again, the kids came back from recess, and sixth-grader Sarah Masterson smiled.
Sarah also enjoys poetry that rhymes because it sounds more fluid to her. She'd be surprised if anyone else in her family writes poetry.
Her poem, "The Sounds of Sunlight," describes the voices of her family members.
Writing poems since first grade, Sarah also plays volleyball and loves chocolate cake.
Sarah's favorite line in her poem is the last line: "The sunlight sounds like a laughing child kissing my cheeks."
Postcards have triggered new thoughts to create for Sarah, and have motivated fourth-grader Jessica Dalton.
Jessica's poem, "Wyoming Horses," describes the blue skies and yellow sun on which horses ride.
Even though Jessica hasn't read this poem to a lot of people, she likes riding horses.
These young poets have drawn pictures illustrating their poems, and many times they have surprised themselves while writing poetry.
As a whole, poetry has demanded them to concentrate and create, focusing their senses on telling stories and explaining moments.
What matters about poetry to Alexis is that she likes it, and Jeremy declares you can write poetry about anything.
A poet can be anyone, according to Jessica. Sarah believes that being descriptive in poetry really clarifies what a person is trying to say.
As the bell dinged a third time, Andrew declared, "There goes my recess."
Creative Communications Published Poets from Crest Hill Elementary
Kayla Albertson*Tatianna Baldwin*Madison Ballard*Sierra Bartsch*Courtney Baxter*Michelle Bennett*Connor Bergman*Josh Black*Brittlynn Bulgrin*Gabe Carlson*Jared Carlstrom*Katelyn Chapin*Kendal Chipperfield*Ortun Collins*Rebecca Conklin*Peyton Cook*Jessica Dalton*Brevan Davis*Maddison Dedic*Brianna DeGroot*Alexandria Eckhart*Nicole Eckhart*Alicia Elizondo*Amanda Elizondo*Zacharie Engberg*April Ewing*Jonas Farmer*Jarred Flanigan*Randi Foley*Alyssa Fordyce*Dante' Freeman*Julien Fujita*Sam Fujita*Olee Garner*Emma Geddes*Emily Gorman*Audrianna Goss*Callie Griffeth*Jace Griffeth*Katie Gruner*Audrey Haller*Alex Hambrick*Danise Hardy*Ethan Hawks*Austin Hegdahl*Sara Heili*William Heili*Regan Hendricks*Whitney Hinchey*Alexis Holscher*Marcus Holscher*Memphis Hooper*Stephen Jensen*Trevor Johnson*Charity Jones*Emily Jones*Sarah Jones*Demetrios Kanelos*Cade Kirkham*Lyle Kruse*Shaney Kruse*Kylee Lais*Kim Lazar*Lexi Leary*Hayden Loflin*Courtney Logan*Alexandria Maben*Sarah Masterson*Nikky McFee*Kindle Meek*Kevin Milburn*Ethan Miller*Brenna Moore*Mercedes Moore*Parker Munsey*Colin O'Neill*Peyton Osborne*Kade Renfro*Kara Roberts*Anthony Ross*Damian Rushton*Kaylee Schimpf*Bregan Schuler*Carly Simoneaux*Celie Smith*Jakob Snell*Ashley Sondag*Dalton Stack*Haley Stack*Nick Steele*Aliyah Stevenson*Amber Street*Abby Switzer*Lexie Switzer*Lauren Taubert*Kyle Taylor*Hayden Traxler*Lauren Ullery*Andrew Wanbaugh*Sapphire Whalen*Anne Whitaker*Sammie White*Nathan Woodward*Askie Yazzie*JeremyYoung*Paxton Zielinski
In their own words …
"Pink"
by Alexis Holscher (1st grade)
Pink reminds me of a strawberry.
Pink makes me feel happy
because it's my favorite color.
Pink is in bows and erasers and crayons.
My favorite pink thing
is pink stuffed animals!
If pink had a flavor
it would taste like bubble gum!
"Voices and Echoes"
By Andrew Wanbaugh (3rd grade)
On my first camping trip,
we were on a four wheeler ride
and I got to listen.
I heard voices and echoes
echoing through the dark caves
and the deep canyons
and the windy plains.
they echo through the beautiful mountains
and through the sandy prairies, too.
On my first camping trip,
we were on a four wheeler ride
and I got to listen.
I heard voices and echoes
echoing through the dark caves
and the deep canyons
and the windy plains.
they echo through the beautiful mountains
and through the sandy prairies, too.
"Wyoming Horses"
by Jessica Dalton (4th grade)
Wyoming horses are so beautiful
in their own little herd.
They are different colors.
You can see them running.
You can see all the dust flying behind them.
You can see them,
how they are so happy
in their free spirit.
All of the sagebrush
and all of the colors
shooting everywhere.
They have sweat from their backs
because it's so hot outside.
There is not a cloud in sight,
just pure yellow and blue.
The different colors of the horses
are so very pretty.
The Wyoming horses
are so beautiful
in their free spirit.
"The Roar of the Crowd"
by Jeremy Young (4th grade)
I love the sound
when the catcher's mitt
pops
so loud
and then
the ump yells,
"Strike 3!"
and then
the huge crowd
roars,
then chants
the pitcher's name
so loudly
that you think
your eardrums
will explode!!
And your favorite player
hits the walk off
home run.
And you feel good.
"The Sounds of Sunlight"
by Sarah Masterson (6th grade)
My father's thunderous,
yet soft voice
sounds like the big pats of rain
that land on our roof.
My mother's sweet
and soft,
like the warm sunlight on my back.
My grandfather's voice
sounds like a snowy day
when the soft snow hits your face
just right.
My grandmother's creaky voice
sounds like the rocking chair
she sits on.
I can hear the fear and anger
in the howling wind
that rocks the house all night.
I can hear the crisp leaves
gently dancing to the ground.
The sunlight sounds like
a laughing child
kissing my cheeks.