an anthology of literary and art work by students from Charlottesville City Schools The Unfinished Jigsaw 2017–2018
an anthology of literary and art work by students from Charlottesville City Schools
Charlottesville City Schools 1562 Dairy Road Charlottesville, Virginia
Cover Art: Luka Wimer CHS Grade 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Appreciation is expressed to our creative students, teachers, and all others whose contributions have made this anthology possible.
Editor Aaron Eichorst, Fine Arts Coordinator
Editorial Board Jen McGraw, CHS Susan Muse and Kristie Rush, Buford Carole Anderson and Jeff Smith, Walker Carol Busching, Burnley-Moran Ashley Riley, Clark Beth Easter, Greenbrier Ida Cummings, Jackson-Via Christine Esposito, Johnson Cindy Cartwright, Venable
Art Teachers K–12 Jennifer Mildonian, CHS Rachel McLaughlin, CHS Sarah Sweet, CHS Rachel Wilson, CHS (Photography) Marcelle Van Yahres, BRJD Academic Program Desmond Cormier, Buford Samantha Pagni, Walker Ryan Trott, Burnley-Moran and Jackson-Via Evelyn Reid, Clark Angela Corpuz, Greenbrier Jocelyn Johnson, Johnson and Jackson-Via Melissa Combs, Jackson-Via and Venable Aaron Eichorst, ArtQuest Program Specialist
Desktop Publishing Ellen Pitts
Photography Rachel Wilson
Editing/Layout Jeff Suling Ellen Pitts
Rachael Inlow CHS Grade 12 This Book Just Ate My Dog Huck Storer Burnley-Moran Grade K
(Book review)
ou are going to like this book because it Y is funny!
Books Jaxon Scott Buford Grade 8 Jackson-Via Grade 3 Pray Meh
hen every book is opened, First Painting It starts a new adventure. Penelope Figueroa-Ray W A magical journey Johnson Grade 4 That comes in different forms. Explore a new land ne day I was watching my dad drawing a Without having to travel. O picture and my eyes popped! I was so Granting knowledge, happy when I saw what the final product looked Short or long, like. When my dad and mom saw how much For adults and children. I liked drawing, they bought me some paints. Then, they pulled out a canvas. I stared at it thinking, “what to do, what to do.” I did this Ruby Bridges for about 20 minutes, then I had it! Why did I Lucas Moore have to make something real? So I took some Burnley-Moran Grade K paint and splattered it on the canvas. That’s how I started drawing and painting. Yes! That is he just wanted to learn. the first painting I have ever done. I look at my drawings today and I think, look how far I have S come.
Emily Morris Buford Grade 8
- 1 - Families Family Connor Ash Alyssa Spencer Johnson Grade 3 Johnson Grade 1
amilies are important because they teach y family is special to me. My family is their kids how to talk. They also teach special because we all know and themF how to walk, run, and play sports. Other understandM each other. We love one another and important reasons we need families are to teach we celebrate together. We go to plays and to us how to do math and to go on hikes with us. the theater. We have fun together and treat each You would not be alive if you didn’t have a other with kindness and respect. family.
Family and Friends Aliyah Cobbs CHS Grade 9
(In response to a class assignment after reading The Hate U Give) Walker Grade 5 Walker
amily isn’t always blood, It’s the people in your life.
WeF all have a garden we tend, Zoe Wells It’s planted with family and friends. The memories and dreams we share. Ignoring the petty differences, We get along. Mommy Side by side our roses grow strong. D’Mere Knox Growing alongside one another, Greenbrier Grade 3 Makes me feel a bond, om is the best Responsibilities are strong, on the planet. Making sure nothing goes wrong. M My mom is why I am here. Little stems bloom, My mom is funny and dear. Needing more room, She is so nice. Elders go dormant, Young stems flourish around, Turning new soil all around, My Heart Is Full Making new friends, Angela Ferro In a new town, Greenbrier Grade 2 It’s hard to come by, But you make it around. y heart is full when my crab crawls on my head. Loving the garden, My heart is full when my mom gives me hugs. Make you even closer, M My heart is full when my dog kisses me. To the ones you have around. My heart is full when I get some sleep.
My heart is full when I see the sunset. My heart is full when I see the sunset with my family. - 2 - Emma Bennett-McConnell Jackson-Via Grade 4
My Heart Is Full I Am Loved Micah Appiah Giovanni Rodriguez Greenbrier Grade 2 Clark Grade 3 y heart is full when I don’t feel left out. M My heart is full when I get to do the things I want. am loved because my family gets me a lot My heart is full when people are kind to me. of stuff. I am loved at school because my My heart is full when people are caring for me. I teachers teach me a lot of stuff. I am also loved My heart is full when my mom gives me hugs. because my family takes me on trips to places. I am also loved when my mom and dad are loved. My Fairy Tale I will tell you this that love is love! Tamkeen Rashidi Clark Grade 2
nce upon a time, there was a girl named Cindera who lived with three stepsisters andO the stepmother. One morning, it was the day of the Eid party and the stepmother and three stepsisters were going, but Cindera could not go to the party. Then, the fairy godmother came and said, “Why are you crying?” Cindera said, “I can’t go to the Eid party.” Suddenly, Cindera had a beautiful Afghan dress and shoes and jewelry. Then, she went to the Eid party! The stepmother and stepsisters said “What are you doing here?” in a mean voice. “I came to marry the prince,” Cindera said. When the prince saw her, he said “I want to marry her,” and the stepsisters said “No! You should marry me because we are more beautiful than her.” Once Cindera danced with the prince, the three stepsisters said, “Oh my God why does she get to marry the prince?” Then they brought food Zoe Chen and they ate and then they had to go home and Johnson Grade 2 they lived happily ever after! - 3 - The Lost Parent Karah Wingfield Greenbrier Grade 2
ur class went to a corn maze. My mom, O three classmates, and I were in a group. We saw a dead end, and we took another path. We found another dead end. My mom was afraid! We got lost again. We took another path and got lost again. My friends and I kept telling her, “We’ll be O.K.” My mom said, “O.K.” We kept going and kept getting lost. She was getting more and more nervous. Finally, the class met together, and we found our way out. Hazel Conklin Walker Grade 5 My mom said, “Bring your grandpa next time!” Going to Busch Gardens Ian Turnbull What Do You Love? Venable Grade 1 Ty’Shay Douglas Greenbrier Grade 2 was happy. Daddy and I went to Busch Gardens! We did bumper cars. Weee! Bump! love… Bump!I Then we had lunch. We went on a I spending time with my big sister Molly. rollercoaster. It was fast and fun! Weee! Then reading with my mom. we got off. We went on a Drop Tower. I said playing hairdresser with my sister. “Weee!” Then we got off. We walked to another getting new friends. ride…weee! I thought that was cool. I got a going to school every day. cookie at a restaurant. Then we went home. going to the pool. playing with Mia on weekdays. going to the movies. snow because it is cold and fun to play in. seeing Cassie every day. going to the park on some days. These are the things I love!
Hector Alday-Jover Lucas Miller Yasu Shinozaki Davontae Johnson Buford Grade 8
- 4 - Where I’m From Rocco Cuadra Clark Grade 4
am from Florida from winter garden and I dogs. I am from waves at beaches. I am from birds, from cats, and from hugs. I am from the best food, the best drinks. I’m from a nice and funny family and from video games, books, and friends. I am from the loud waves and heat waves, from thunderstorms and sunny days. Penelope Figueroa-Ray I’m from sleeping in late. Johnson Grade 4 I’m from smiles on faces and not many frowns. From a nice house and nice people From the best family My Heart Is Full I am from dogs, cats, a school that is nice Ava Barnes and the best teacher ever. Greenbrier Grade 2 This is where I’m from. y heart is full when my mom gives me a hug. My heart is full when I get to go to my M friend’s house. My heart is full when I get to do the things I want. My heart is full when I see my toys. Where I’m From My heart is full when I look at the sunset. Tyler Milam Clark Grade 4
am from Orlando, Florida, from being I outside and sunburns. I am from the East. I am from a funny family, from games, and from mac ’n’ cheese. I am from intelligence and imagination. I’m from my brother and my sister, from my mom and my dad. I am from computers and consoles. From beaches and fun I’m from sunny days, being nice. I’m from Leap year. From February 29, 2008 and delicious cheesy pizza From the fun trips with my family Kalia Klug I am from the love of my family. Johnson Grade 2
- 5 - Charlottesville Peace Orianna Smith Ezra McLellan Johnson Grade 3 Greenbrier Grade 3 harlottesville is amazing just the way it is. veryone should be peaceful, You don’t have to change it. If they are just like a dove. goingC to hate, send them away. Here, we are E If we are not peaceful, ROARing. We are being respectful, open- we will get no love. minded, actively engaged, and responsible to everyone.
Peace and Justice Emotions Zadie Maness Calvin Shullaw Burnley-Moran Grade 3 Burnley-Moran Grade 4 eace is a melody, a song floating through the air oday is the day we fight. Justice is like a cello, here and there Today is the day we love. PeaceP is a daisy, a fair flower, white and yellow T Today is the day we weep. Justice is the sun, bright, a nice fellow I see the Peace, a rabbit, is quick thinking and nice stars. Justice, a fox, is hunting some mice I see the Peace and justice, a perfect match moon. In the blanket of good I see the Covering up evil holes like a patch light. Strength and hate destroy itself. Strength and love make the world a better place. I Have a Dream Love overpowers hate. Love overpowers power. Eli Williams Hate is not the answer. Johnson Grade 1 Power is not the answer. y dream for the world is that black and Love is the answer. white people will always get along. My dreamM is that black, white, and brown people are caring and kind to each other. I want our world to be a really, really safe place. Peace Jelani Rush If I Were President… Burnley-Moran Grade 4 eace will come when it’s time Osman Massoud Clark Grade 2 Pbut time is calm f I were president, I would make the world so is peace a better place. Violence is chaotic I would make the world a safe place. If violence doesn’t stop I would help everyone. time won’t come I would make a speech! But time is good I would tell everyone to be safe. and time will come I would tell everyone to be kind.
- 6 - Charlottesville PEACE Virginia Santiago, Presley Thompson, & Jack Wielar Patrick Daly Johnson Grade 4 Greenbrier Grade 3
ustice brings us together, but gives us the opportunity to love. Please, no more war. Love is the puzzle to the world, but peace puts it together. HandJ in hand we will stand. Everyone have peace. We are many but united. Army fights for the country. Faith gives us strength, but also gives us joy. Countries should work together. Compassion is the key to kindness; It flows through our heart like a peaceful stream. Every person has equal rights. Truth is the path to forgiveness, which is the greatest form of kindness. Gratefulness is the glue that holds us all together. Hope brightens our hearts like the sun brightens our world.
Stop Cutting and Plant What Do You Love? Zayla Christmas Kary Lopez Saucedo Greenbrier Grade 2 Greenbrier Grade 3 love… he forest is real. when my dog follows me. We need to stop cutting trees. goingI to the candy store. T Animals are losing their homes. making up with my mom after we get mad at You can stop cutting trees each other. and start planting trees. reading with Ms. B. Animals can have peace, dancing in the mirror. and you can have peace, too. eating ice cream. going to sleep. going to sleep in the car. going to the sea. These are the things I love!
Bullying Eloise Henderson Noordin Idris Venable Grade 1 Johnson Grade 4
think that people should be nicer to other people because it is not fair to other people inI the world that they are getting bullied and others are not. It is not fun getting bullied.
It is not funny getting bullied by other kids. Some people get hurt by getting bullied. They should stick up for the people that are getting bullied. - 7 - The Movement of Life It’s gone for half of the day, And when she is in a bad mood, John Emery Her judgement and inspirations are clouded. CHS Grade 11 Despite bad times, (Inspired by Joyous Young Pine) The child pushes further, For she knows that these calm days ranquil sun, Are worth life’s storms. Flimsy arms, She pushes on, ReachingT in the air. Knowing that it’s easier to grow Careful growth, When it’s dawn. Big dreams, Climbing life’s stairs. *** Upwards motion, The sun watches her children grow Escaping the earth, And feed off her strength. Feeding off its inspiration. Hoping one day that one of them Always reaching further, Will join her as a star. The tree continues to grow, Making sure that its progress never slows. Forever waiting, For one that never falls. Lazy wind, Maybe this one, Warm day, Will tower above them all. Always reaching up, Strong gravity, The sun looks to the child, Vicious cycle, Gazing at her soul, Never giving up. Knowing in its heart sadly, That time will take its toll. *** The future is bleak, And her branches are still thin, As the child grows, The battle is tough, despite the day, She casts bigger shadows, And she will never win. Forsaking her forgotten roots. The child can only see the future, The child never hears it. And the past is dark and muddy. She will beat the odds. She will join her mother The child is content with herself, And become a god. Despite being weak. Her mother has to be wrong, She knows that very slowly Her opinion must be flawed... She will gain her strength. Back in space, Her goal feeds her, Miles apart, And she gets closer to it. The end is coming fast, Although she will never reach it, “Oh joyous pine, It will be her only meaning. You have a will, But you will never last.” The child doesn’t always Keep sight of her goal. - 8 - Ramsey Edwards Venable Grade 4 A Spirited Tree Nyomi Becker-Montambault Jackson-Via Grade 4 soft breeze blows, sweeping in storm clouds on a dark night. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed and rain came pouring down! AThe wind whipped at its branches and tore trees!
Then, as suddenly as the storm had risen, it was gone. As morning peeks from the dark, the warmness dispels the coolness of night.
A light breeze blows, it spreads out arms to welcome the day. A sweet, piney smell floats away.
A warm, joyous feeling erupts from inside. As the morning light spreads down upon a young tree, a feeling of happiness washes through me.
The World Doesn’t Need to Be Bad Olivia Ramirez-Weaver Greenbrier Grade 3 veryone, let’s talk about environmentalization. Soon there’s going to be no land left for human habitation. GoingE to be, as far as you can see, water, water, everywhere. Unite and help to create, no time left for debate. Let’s stop making bad factories, let’s stop cutting down unnecessary trees. Forget the war, remember the peace. This world doesn’t need to be bad, not in the least! - 9 - A Personal Narrative Geovany Garcia-Angel Clark Grade 4
hen I was born and starting to get bigger, my mom wanted to visit the United States.W She took a flight there and my grandpa Buford Grade 8 and grandma took me and put me in school. The school didn’t have a spinner or web to climb, slide, swings, or a basketball court like Clark. We only had a field to play soccer. Each day, when I came out of school, we always went to catch fish or we also loved to go to the pool. My uncle would take me to the barber to cut my hair. My grandma made me a party and food for my birthday. Then, one day, my grandpa and grandma told me we were going to the United States! When we arrived, my mom wanted me to go to school. She sent me to Clark school. When the teachers were talking, I didn’t understand what they were saying. So I went to see the ESL teacher. Her name is Mrs. Hoffman. Each day I went with her. She taught me English. When I got to first grade, I understood English a little better. Years passed. Now, I am in fourth grade because of Ms. Hoffman and my teachers. I owe all this to Ms. Hoffman who helped me speak English. Each day, I try my best to learn more English and I am happy because I can speak English. I am also happy that I have a spinner, web to climb, basketball Pray Meh, Emily Morris, Belaynesh Downs-Reeve, Mya Spencer court and soccer field, and a climbing wall in the gym!
Fragments of My City Sylvie Bon-Harper, Lidia Shimer & Vanessa Granados-Martinez Buford Grade 8 (Five-Minute Poem: A Collaboration)
haos unfurls around us, And suddenly all is quiet AsC fires ignite beneath our feet. We are knee-deep in debris Remains of buildings rock in the wind. Fighting against malleable memories, Fragments of my city Crumbling below me.
- 10 - Super Best Friends All About Afghanistan Muriel Kahrl Yusra Massoudi Greenbrier Grade 1 Clark Grade 1
y name is Moon. I am from Japan. My hat People Wear friend is Sun. Sun is from Japan, too. We People in Afghanistan cover their head areM both superheroes. We are super best friends. W with scarfs. The scarfs are usually black. What People Eat You can get rice and kebabs. The kebabs are yummy. How People Move My Poem… People walk to their neighbor’s house. Sometimes their house is far away. Helen Dominguez Driving Cars Buford Grade 8 Some people have cars. Some people don’t have cars. There are a lot of cars I am from Honduras, I am creative. in Afghanistan. I wonder about the future. I hear people speak Farsi in my class. I see many people talking with friends. I want my family from Honduras. Saigon—An Imagery Poem I am from Honduras, I am creative. Sydney Brown Clark Grade 4 I pretend I can finish my work in art, but it is too difficult. aigon tastes like moldy clumps of rice, I feel sad because there is too much to do. S gunpowder, and fire I touch my phone. Saigon smells like smoke and old food I worry when my mom is sick. Saigon sounds like gun fires, soft cries, and I cry when I think of my family. bombs I am from Honduras, I am creative. Saigon feels like a world of war and bag that carries a few memories I understand that life is hard. Saigon looks like bombs in the air and ships I say many things with my friends. Saigon feels like a lonely country I dream of becoming an architect. I try to make my life better. I am from Honduras, I am creative. If I Were President Ayden Johnson Clark Grade 2 Rushing to America Weam Kahwaji f I were president, I would take care of Earth Burnley-Moran Grade 3 I and not let people litter. I love my world, but it’s not a world if there is nothing but trash. yria was safe. I would choose good over evil. I want to be Then the war came to my home. a good president and help the sick and the ManyS people died. homeless and the poor. I don’t want to just help We rushed to America. the world, I want to help people, too. I want to America is my home. help all 50 states and I will. - 11 - Uly Ingene CHS Grade 11
The Clouds Over Pompeii Kay Pornillos Walker Grade 6 Destroyed city, the clouds, the ash, the smoke. eautiful city, by the mountain. BOOM! BOOM! It covers the city like a cloak. B The mountain so great, so tall. When the dust settles, Pillars, statues, columns, And the clouds disappear. They filled the great halls! All that is left is ash and fear. The city forgotten, the ash layed down. Great city, it was alive! The life under beginning to drown. It was alive and it thrived! Say goodbye to the lost city, of Pompeii. But little did they know The mountain they thought Lost city, where memories sleep Was just for show Under a blanket of ash, down deep. Was getting ready to blow. Dig and chip, and search, to uncover, The city that sleeps just under. Doomed city, the mountain nearby, Will be the death of them all. Ancient city, upon a mound. BOOM! BOOM! Under ash and stone it was found! The ash fills the sky, Unknown secrets, artifacts to discover. And the people begin to cry. Dig and chip, there are secrets to uncover!
- 12 - A Book About Wolves Oakley Lyman Burnley-Moran Grade K
love dogs. Wolves are in the dog family. I Wolves eat meat.
Izzy Warren CHS Grade 10
WOLVES Eliana Bleakley Jackson-Via Grade 2
White, black, grey, brown and red On the mountains, grasslands and forests Lighter than a piano Very cute families and packs Early spring pups S Emma Doull oft and strong are the wolves. CHS Grade 9
Honestly, a Fairy Tale Adaptation Matthew Whittle Venable Grade 2 CHS Grade 11
ne day a wolf was very hungry, I mean he was famished. Strolling through the woodsO at the same time was Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf loved apples. Little Red Riding Hood looked just like an apple. When the Giulia DeGood wolf came upon Little Red, she was fixing her hood and said, “Don’t I look pretty?” The wolf thought she looked just like a red apple. The wolf was hungry so he gobbled her up. “She was not as good as the wolf feast, but she was better than nothing.” The End! Don’t go out into the woods alone or talk with a wolf. - 13 - Nathan Kim CHS Grade 9 My Eyes Julien Sims Burnley-Moran Grade 4 What Do You Love? he best part of me is my eyes. Graham Scott Without my eyes, I would not see my beautiful Greenbrier Grade 2 T little sister love… who is the sunshine of my day I pandas because they are playful. and since I see her every day Mom because she is very nice. it’s easier to keep a smile on my face every day Fridays because I don’t have to do my and she makes me feel really good to be a brother. homework. The best part of her to me is her smile. Dad because he is awesome! Birthdays because they are fun! Star Wars because it’s cool. The Best Part of Me Minecraft because it’s fun and awesome. Lucy Clarens Food because it is healthy. Burnley-Moran Grade 3 Animals because they are interesting. The Teracotta Army because they are ithout my nose I couldn’t smell a rose. China War Men. No popcorn, no cookies, Andrew because he’s fun, funny, good, butW gladly no toes! and nice. Without my nose I couldn’t taste! These are the things I love! No ice cream, no chocolate, not even toothpaste! So what could I do without my nose? What Do You Love? My nose makes me a better person. That’s why my nose is the best part of me! Cora Powers Greenbrier Grade 2 love… If I Were President I hamsters because they skitter and scree. Sarah Parwez drawing, doodling, and coloring. Clark Grade 2 my mom’s homemade sour bread and lemon juice. f I were a president, I would be kind. I would Don’t forget computer programming. make new laws, too. I would make the “Bon Jour!” I speak French. worldI a better place. I would stop people from playing Monopoly with my dad. fighting. I would give money to poor people. I knitting baby scarves and hats. would help my family, too! reading Thea Stilton…my favorite! - 14 - Londyn Randolph Johnson Grade 2 My Imagination Sofia Smith Burnley-Moran Grade 4 100th Day y imagination is a miraculous journey of wonder. Lincoln Braun It is a curious and thoughtful place. Greenbrier Grade K M It makes me unique. It keeps all my imaginative ideas his week, I celebrated the 100th So I don’t lose them. day of school. We ate candy. We It gives me my architectural and engineering mind hadT a blast. We popped balloons. And that is amazing. When I sleep, I get ideas from my imagination for another day. It makes me my own self. If I didn’t have my imagination, who would I be? My imagination is the best part of me. My Core of Me Aidan Clare Burnley-Moran Grade 4 The Best Part of Me he core of me Is my creativity. Jackson Johnson T Burnley-Moran Grade 3 It helps me understand everything in the land. Creativity helps me see The best part of me. he best part of me is my imagination. I have Sure you distract me, a big imagination. It lets me think of But you are still the best part of me. stuffT I like. I like to think of helicopters. I am The best part of my creativity very good at thinking. I like to think of legos Is it helps me with my stories. invading, Star Wars, castles and chess. All That’s why my creativity imaginations are unique. Is the best part of me.
- 15 - I Have a Dream Dr. King Nasira Carter Jamie Roop Johnson Grade 1 Greenbrier Grade 4
have a dream that the world will be a safe r. King I place where everyone can feel safe. I dream brave, courageous that everyone will care for each other and D caring, loving, helping respect each other. My dream is that everybody a great man will be brave. Hero
Aretha Justice George Burnley-Moran Grade 1
(Shape poem—turned into the shape of a piano)
ARETHA She won lots of awards. She grew up around music. She helped people be kind. She sang for presidents. She sang in her church. First woman to be added into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Harriet Tubman Addy Buckner Venable Grade 4
arriet Tubman was a dangerous and exciting runaway slave who helped abolish slavery. She was born on a farm near Bucktown and nicknamed Minty. After she escaped, she went back and brought friendsH and family. Later, she brought people she didn’t even know! She took them high in the United States to the border of Canada. There, she let them stay in a house she bought. Slave Hunters started to put up wanted signs with her name and face on them. Later in her life, she started working as a secret agent for the people who were fighting to end slavery. She was very daring. She helped spy for the Union Army. First, she went to Port Royal Island, which was off the coast of South Carolina. Many thousands of slaves and soldiers were there ready to fight. She helped black women make things that were useful. Lots of slaves were sick or hurt. Miss Tubman became a nurse and helped many of them. In 1865, slavery was finally abolished with the help of Harriet Tubman.
- 16 - People Friends Amina Menfi Walker Grade 5 Asyan Perrin eople People Burnley-Moran Grade 1 They Laugh and Cry PeopleP People y friends are so great. They say Hi and Bye We really like to play games. People People M We have so much fun! They Eat and Sleep People People They Play and Hide People People They’re Here and There People People They’re Everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harrison Gaye Johnson Grade 4
My Friend Honesty Timberlake-Tran Greenbrier Grade 1
y person is my friend. We like to do things Levi Beling together, like playing games, going to Johnson Grade 4 theM park, and catching fireflies. Then we go to bed. The Outside Nyeem Spencer Making Friends Clark Grade 4 Leela Valdez see kids playing. Greenbrier Grade 1 The breeze feels so good on me. I hear birds chirping. can be a good friend by being respectful and kind to them. I can also use good mannersI when they are around. Be kind. Be respectful. Use manners. Work out fights. Say “please” and “thank you.” These are ways I can be a good friend. - 17 - My Meaning of Life Suany Reyes CHS Grade 9 (ESL) The Portrait of a Life he meaning of life has no definition Ashley Clark it’s never the same how it’s different, CHS Grade 12 it’sT unique for every living soul… nd I am watching A Alone My meaning of life is like a tree In the garden filled with leaves, The sun rises. some leaves fall The dew falls. and others don’t like the millions of stars And the plants grow stuck in space And wilt waiting to be discovered, And die like fire that can cause war or space, ` And grow. like money used and wasted, abused and hated, Again. To Be Loved & Wanted But is there a meaning to it? And I am talking Is there a meaning to your life? Alone To the birds and their melon seeds. I don’t know, you decide. To the deer and their tomato leaves.
And I am walking Don’t Give Up on Your Life Alone Zar Zar In the red brick path CHS Grade 9 (ESL) With palms grazing tall grass. And eyes grazing blue sky. ive feedback as a lesson to solve. Give praise as power to do anything And I am weary better.G Alone The morning sun says to continue fighting. In the garden If this day is tired and cannot fight, The sun sets. the light of the next day is encouraging us The dew falls. every day.
Chess Jack Lindemann, Alex Brandon, & Seanan Shanks Buford Grade 8 (Five-Minute Poem: A Collaboration)
he thrill of a good chess match: Use your pawns to swarm your opponents. TheT queen is by far the most versatile piece. Use it carefully and don’t waiver in the face of victory.
- 18 - Belaynesh Downs-Reeve Buford Grade 8
- 19 - Thomas Parmenter CHS Grade 11
Baseball Basketball Max McAdams Zayon Steppe Burnley-Moran Grade K Burnley-Moran Grade 1
ax was at a baseball game. He swung utside on a court strike one, strike two. O Circle. Orange. M Bounce me. Shoot me. Boop Boop Boop I am a basketball. Basketball Jawarren Rucker Johnson Grade 4
chool should have a basketball team because people might want to play T-shirt Opinion Write basketball.S My friends and I like to play basketball and exercise. It teaches you to get E Deja Hopkins-Taylor Clark Grade 1 along with people, even people you don’t like because you’re on the same team so you’re working together. It helps make you healthy think the number three is the best because it and strong. If there was a team at Johnson, you I is a batman shirt. Also, because I like black wouldn’t have to pay for it. and yellow and those are my favorite colors. Another reason is they have words on the back of the shirt and it stands for Charlottesville. I think that, because it makes me happy. Mrs. Jones says, “It was the quickest shirt to arrive fast because it didn’t take long to make.”
- 20 - I Am Rh’Darius I Am Onia Rh’Darius Harrell Onia Bryan Johnson Grade 4 Johnson Grade 4
am a nice kid who likes football. am a nice person who likes football I wonder why football is good. I wonder why school is so hard I hear me when I play. I hear my friend talking when I walk I see my shoe when I fall down. I want to play basketball so I can get better I want to play football. I am a nice person who likes football I am a nice kid who plays football. I want to play basketball on an NBA team I want to play football with my friends. I feel that I have to be better at math I feel that I have to play football. I touch my bed when I sleep I touch my mom when I hug my mom. I worry about my family I worry about my mama. I cry when somebody dies in my family I cry when I’m hurt. I am a nice person who likes football I am a nice kid who likes football. I know that I’m smart I think I can believe I can fly. I think people should believe in God I dream I can fly. I dream that I can replay and rewind my life I hope that I can fly. I hope that I play for an NBA team I am a nice kid who likes football. I try to play soccer I am a nice person who likes football
Bio Poem of Wilma Rudolph Terray Dance Clark Grade 3 ilma W Strong, brave, fast Who had 19 older brothers and sisters, and who had four children Who loved her family and other people Who felt challenged when she had polio and couldn’t walk, sad when other kids made fun of her brace, and proud of herself when she won three Olympic Gold Medals Who was afraid that she would never be able to walk again when she had polio and afraid she would lose the Olympic games Who was the first black woman to win three gold medals in the Olympic games Who wanted to see herself win the Olympic games and teach other kids how to run fast like her Who was born in Tennessee Rudolph
- 21 - I Am Soccer Isaac Simpson Johnson Grade 4 Mick Wade am a funny boy who likes soccer. Jackson-Via Grade 3 I wonder why space never ends. I hear laughing when ne big game I go to the downtown mall. Lots of goals I see stars O Beautiful hat tricks when I look out the window at night. Sweat trickling down the side of your face I want to help the world You practice every day so l can live on a wonderful planet. Black and white soccer ball I am a funny boy who likes soccer. Field made of turf I want to play soccer with my bro. Kicking the ball I feel that I have to read when I get angry. Goalie makes epic saves I touch my dog’s head Fans and the coaches cheering for your team when I pet her. The best sport you could ever play! I worry about hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. I cry when I get hurt. Soccer I am a funny boy who likes soccer. I know that there are horrible things Ezra Halme Clark Grade K and people in life. I think people should know about soccer. I know that soccer is believe in the things they love. a game of motion. I know that a soccer ball I dream that I will become needsI air. Even the famous soccer players need the best soccer player ever. practice. I know that soccer takes practice. I I try to do my best. know that soccer ball can be played inside or I hope that the world is a better place outside. and people respect nature. I am a funny boy who likes soccer.
How to Play Hide and Seek Salayah Ashby-Smith Clark Grade 1
he first step is to hide. Next, you have to count to ten. Next, the person has to find you.T Finally, they have to chase you!
Levi Lowe Venable Grade K
- 22 - Millie Schlegel CHS Grade 12
The Super Bowl Gymnastics Jaikeira Washington Clark Grade 4 Aislyn Ardleigh-Clark Clark Grade 1 h My! Why? Why? Why? Patriots, oh Patriots, how you lost ymnastics is fun. You can do it in a gym. YouO lost to the Eagles You can do flips on the bar. You can do Because of a pass aG handstand. You can wing on the rings. I love gymnastics! I am embarrassed to say that you use to be my team Now I would only say that in my dream Football Sorry to say, the Eagles are now my team Leo Jaspen Greenbrier Grade 1 Unicorn know about football. I know that you try to Emma Bennett-McConnell get a touchdown. A touchdown is worth six Jackson-Via Grade 4 points.I You can try to kick an extra point, and that is worth one point. Or, you can try to stay olorful and bright on the field and get into the end zone. If you C Happy and exciting make it, you will get two points. Or, if it’s fourth A flash of light in a dark, still night down, and you are close, you can kick a field A rainbow springs across a bright, blue sky goal, and that is worth three points. If you are Glitter and sparkles pop in my mind far away, you can punt. Roses bloom and birds sing A slight wind brushes against the great, tall trees People come outside and play and say It’s a wonderful day! - 23 - Jeanne Berthy Buford Grade 7
Woody Nature Dylan Buzzoni Shyann Bearley Greenbrier Grade 3 Greenbrier Grade 2
oody, you are so cuddly. ature has butterflies and bears, On the carpet stretched out fawns and raccoons. WOn the table when we are eating dinner N Animals have babies. Disrupting us when we’re trying to sleep Babies are little. You are the best cat in the world. Baby squirrels are my favorite animal. They are so cute! Worms Nature can be fun. Mrs. Demchak’s Class Burnley-Moran Grade K Leopard iggily and long Esme Ogden-Amt Jackson-Via Grade 3 eating cardboard, leaves and scraps W good for the garden sly hunter stalks the night. Hidden and unseen, Alone A The leopard prowls. Abigail Louise Hendrie A golden creature, Greenbrier Grade 4 so strong and proud. am alone. Can there be anyone I Nobody to hug more beautiful than she? Nobody to see A feline ready to attack. All alone for me to be Anyone can see that it is feared. Hello, Maddy. But if you come too close, If you’re there, it does not end happily. please save me.
- 24 - Nature Callie Sun Greenbrier Grade 2 f I were an animal, I would be a bird because I could fly, chirp, and sing. I I would ruffle my feathers. I would be warm, too. I could fly fast and far, and people would see me. Jeanne Berthy Buford Grade 7 I would be a blue bird.
Frog in the Pond Lily Sturek Burnley-Moran Grade 1 Grasen Davis live next to the pond. Buford Grade 7 I am slimy. I I am round. HAWKS I am green. Isaac Mamadou You can hold me. Jackson-Via Grade 2 I can jump. Hunters flying after prey I like to leap. I croak. round the world A I lay my eggs in water. Wingspan as big as a child I am a frog. Killing sharp talons Soaring high in the sky Penguins Reece Harris CHS Grade 11 Venable Grade K enguins are black and white. Penguins can P belly slide. Penguins can walk 70 miles.
A Snake Giulia DeGood Lizzy Whittle Venable Grade K snake can stop animal hearts, but not all A snakes. - 25 - Cats Kitten Ada Brantley Alice Thompson Greenbrier Grade 4 Greenbrier Grade 4
ats itten adorable, fuzzy furry, black C running, jumping, sleeping K purring, hissing, sleeping love to eat looks like a fluff ball Felines Zoe
Sunny Keira Yates Greenbrier Grade 2 Cats (An excerpt) Audrey Chen Greenbrier Grade 1 nce upon a time, a cat lived in a house. Her name was Sunny. Sunny had orange and y mom and I went to the pet store. I got a yellowO fur. Her owner gave her yummy cat cat. It has orange stripes. It eats cat food. food, and if Sunny was lucky, she got yummy IM played with the cat. Now it is laying kittens. salmon! One day she was wandering around I know a lot about cats. They need food, when she saw a chipmunk. She was very curious like cat food. I like cats. They are cute. I like and decided to follow it. Sunny followed the pets, and if they are good, I like them better. chipmunk across streams and around trees. They need shelter and milk. Well, some cats Meanwhile, Sunny’s owner was getting need milk. Actually, dogs drink water, not cats! worried. “What happened to her?” said her owner. Sunny soon found herself in a forest. The chipmunk was gone! It started to rain a little bit, so Sunny climbed a tree and went inside a hole. After a few minutes, the rain stopped. Sunny got out of the hole and climbed down the My Cat and Me tree. Marlowe Keighley Soon, Sunny found a big pond. The Venable Grade 1 pond was only one foot deep, so Sunny stepped into the water and looked around. She saw a y cat’s name is Eddie! He is orange with big salmon. Quietly she crept toward the fish. stripes. He is very nice. He likes to be Suddenly, she sprang forward and got the fish petted.M He makes a purring sound. When I pet in her mouth. It did not taste like the salmon at him, he sometimes likes to jump up onto the home. railing outside my house. He loves his cat food. Just then, a squirrel jumped down from a He munches and crunches it down. He also tree. He said, “You need a fire to cook that fish. I loves me. He sometimes likes to cough up fur will help you build a fire, and you can get help.” balls because he eats too fast. I don’t have to Sunny got lots of help from other forest animals, pick them up, my mom has to pick them up. and soon they got a fire going…
- 26 - Keira Yates Greenbrier Grade 2
Esme Ogden-Amt Celia DeVeaux Jackson-Via Grade 3 Walker Grade 5
- 27 - Butterflies Tahlia Long Venable Grade 1 left my house and went to kindergarten. In kindergarten, my teacher brought caterpillars intoI my classroom. I wondered how long it would take until they would be butterflies? One day, I came to school and they were in the chrysalis. The chrysalises were brown. They Buford Grade 7 were hanging on the top of the container. In some of the chrysalises, there was a crack. We could not see in them. Finally, they cracked completely! They were Painted Lady butterflies.
Paw Eh Ler I was happy! The Chick Who Cried Fox Bowen Edwards Puppies Venable Grade 2 Lily Casaday Burnley-Moran Grade K nce upon a time there was a chick. He was hen puppies see other puppies, they get in the woods playing while his mom and W excited. They wag their tails. dadO were chopping wood. They were about a mile away from each other, so it was hard to hear each other. Soon the baby chick was bored. He decided to pull a prank on his parents, so Dogs he cried: FOX ! FOX! Somebody Help Me!! Logan Harrison FOX!!! So, his mom and dad came running as Jackson-Via Grade 4 fast as they could. The baby chick’s mom ran so irty paws when it’s wet fast, she laid some eggs. When they got there, Outside playing all day can you guess how mad the chick’s mom and GoodD dogs get treats dad felt? THEY WERE FURIOUS! They went Scared in a thunderstorm! back to chopping wood, and can you guess what they heard? They came running even faster than the last time! When they got there, actually, when they were half a mile away, they didn’t Yellowstone even bother telling him to stop. When they got Leif Abrahamson back, they heard it again, FOX!!! This time, Johnson Grade 1 the baby chick’s parents didn’t even come! But this time the baby chick wasn’t kidding. When ellowstone Park has the biggest geysers in the chick’s mom and dad came to leave, they the nation! It has animals too! The saw a fox, but no baby chick. The poor parents yellowY park of Yellowstone National Park is searched the whole area. They found nothing. for the yellow grass. It is the biggest park in the They only found fox foot tracks. Finally, they WORLD. There is a Yellowstone keeper who gave up searching. They got in their car and takes care of Yellowstone during the winter. went home. Can you guess what they saw when During the summer he tells people what they they got home, their son. And they lived happily can and can’t do. ever after. - 28 - Jory Cardoza Buford Grade 8
Bali Diving Harriet Novak Buford Grade 7 Bali Diving Naomi Ruzek murky blue, Buford Grade 7 the last lights filter through Aserene, placid, waters iving inexplicably deep, D Into a garden of fauna, A swirling storm, The mysterious ocean. Bigeye flurry in the dusk fleeting, glimmering, silver Eels wiggle furiously, Dancing on the ocean floor, An underwater guard Twisting their tails. swaying warily side to side, Garden eels watch Beautiful but unmoving, The stars of the sea, Fins fiery red Lay down silently. a ruby in the sand an underwater dragon The Great Barracuda, Silent and stealthily it swims, The comedian swims Throughout the waters. amongst waving tendrils of anemone flickering white stripes The delicate anemone, A plant but a fish, A predator lurks An ocean flower. A knife in the water Silently gliding along A dark castle, Yet a palace of life, Vibrant vivacious life The glorious ocean. the ocean thrives with color brilliant rainbows dance - 29 - Avril Lopez Alverez Johnson Grade 2
Fishing Justin Druzgal Johnson Grade 1
know a lot about fishing because I am an expert on which bait to use. It is very importantI to know what type of bait to use when you go fishing because if you don’t know what bait to use, you could get pulled into the water yourself. Fishing is fun when you have the right kind of bait.
Phoebe Fischman Burnley-Moran Grade 2
Josie Sifri Greenbrier Grade 4
- 30 - Pierce Trivigno CHS Grade 9
Shark Judah Baker Jackson-Via Grade 3 Sharks Ezra Barry aze upon this creature. Venable Grade K G What do you think it is? fierce, vicious, scary, and large harks live in the ocean. Sharks have lots of How would you describe it? teeth. They can have over 1,000 teeth. a large, gray sea animal S with very smooth skin splashing in the water It’s a one-of-a-kind shark.
Zakir Lobley Jackson-Via Grade 2 - 31 - Gentrification What would come and what would go A cacophony of voices cried into the night Lena Keesecker Far from the safety of the sun CHS Grade 11 As if by Morse Code, his light flickered Mirrored across a sea of darkness (Inspired by Gotebo, Oklahoma by David Plowden) Calling back to him t was the morning when he first noticed the Each trying to convey their stories red on the sidewalk— Of what they have seen BrokenI into a million pieces He was trapped in a town of brainwashed people In a city without stars Looking up, Confined by the lurking shadow of the giant He was blinded by a jet of water Where voices were drowned out Spurting out of a paint-covered nozzle, Howled over Rebounding, with flakes of red onto the ground None could remember what the ghost had left below behind Each a glimpse back in time Aimlessly waiting for the giant to nudge them Overwhelmed, he ran from his imagination onto the next advancement Heartbeat in time with his pounding soles The latest thing Not seeing the building behind him While the ghost cried and saw his outline Just a shell of what it was Over everything that the giant had done Before Promising to make it like it was before He lived in a world of ghosts Suddenly he saw it all Surrounded, suffocated by the history between He opened his eyes the city walls And saw the ghost sitting on the giant’s shoulder The ghosts told the story Reminding him of who came first and who was Of a bygone era new These were the memories frolicking in the They told him change isn’t always bad breeze Old can turn into something beautiful Whispering Inspired, he turned to see what the painter had Clinging to the hope that they would be uncovered uncovered But couldn’t Brought to light by a new generation The red paint chips giggled at his feet Before they were blown away Like fragments of a heart Then there were the giants How the water had revealed moved the paint to Who lurked in the shadows uncover a whole new sign Noiselessly bringing the New into town Of Before Creeping into the hearts of those who lived alongside them Making them forget the traditions of yesterday With clumsy fingers, they swept aside the old Captain Underpants Warming stubborn hearts to something different Derrick Groff While they overshadowed the buildings that Burnley-Moran Grade K were crippled (Book review) With age and time Delivering a new facade to the town like this book because it is funny. I Carelessly erasing the paths of the ghost I like this book because it has lots of Who had planned, deliberately comics.
- 32 - The Creature My eyes shot open once more when I realized I was in the air! I hit the tank and panicked, but Yoselin Serrano-Lopez my heartbeat calmed down after I saw the tank Buford Grade 8 only shook a bit. I sighed. Nothing broken. I looked at the direction where I’d been, n the darkness, all I could see of the purple then the sound of lights being triggered hit my I creature were its glowing tentacles and long, ears. I hid behind the tank so I could be at least purple teeth. I looked around me to find any a tiny bit secure. When there was light above light source other than the purple tank keeping my head and in the room, I opened my eyes. the creature from attacking me. I sat back down I got out from hiding and looked around feeling the cold floor against the palm of my to see so much lab equipment on the dirty floor. hands and lay back against a wall. I began to I shook my head and ran to the door. I glanced hear some grunting beside me. A shiver went back to see the squid-like monster. It was on the down my spine, but when I glanced to the side, ground, but I detected no movements, so I ran as all I saw was darkness. fast as I could. “Not taking any chances,” I whispered “Never staying out after dark inside my to myself before I ran to the only light source dad’s lab again,” I told myself before coming to ahead of me—the tank. a stop. I sat back down, hiding my head on my I looked up at my tiny house. It must knees for a couple of minutes. Then I heard have rained last night because the porch was clanks and became curious. I looked at the tank moist and muddy. I exhaled, thinking about that had the creature in it and looked closely the worried faces of my parents. I shook my before I stood up and rested my palm on the head and twisted the door knob to let myself in. glass. I had examined it before and noticed Closing the door behind me, I walked into the some wires behind it. Now, I also saw purple living room to explain what had happened in the ooze on the side of it and something swimming lab. about. I squinted to try and make out the creature, but my eyes shot open when I saw one of the tentacles swing at me. I fell back, but realized the creature couldn’t harm me from inside. A grin wiped across my face and I stood up. It must’ve been a mutation of a sea creature, much more an octopus or squid. I began to walk away from it and back to the walls, but I grew stressed from being in one place. I started to feel around the walls for anything, a lever or button. I came to a stop from when I heard the grunting. I stood still and a couple seconds later, the grunting disappeared and I let out a sigh of relief. I wanted to get out of here, and I wanted to get out now. I kept my guard up for any other noises and dents until I came along a tightly packed space: the end of the hall. I felt around and noticed a crack in the wall. I hesitated for a short second before Asher Saunders putting my finger in it, which triggered a switch. CHS Grade 11 - 33 - Colorful Mia Norton Walker Grade 6 RAYS of Color Hope George know I am different. I can see things no Walker Grade 6 I one else sees. That doesn’t mean you have to Rays of color shining like a smile point me out or whisper about me, I know you beautiful sound of colors call me color boy because I can see colors. I’m A no different than you just with a lot of color in It shines through the raindrops my world. More than I need too. My “disease” No grey is called synesthesia. My brain is hardwired edazzled by it’s prism to be like I am. It is different for all people of B this case but my A’s are red, my B’s are blue, Out of this world my C’s are yellow and swigally. Music sounds WoW! and looks different to me than to you. They are beautiful sometimes and sometimes not. Sometimes when people talk it’s just a scramble of colors and lines, and I can never stop it. I can block it sometimes and sometimes not. In times The Artist of deep tragedy it can go away but not forever. Sckolher Berry I was sitting at school on a normal day Jackson-Via Grade 4 back in second grade. I was chosen to do a math problem and I remember it to this day. “123- he artist thought while his hands rested on 34=” the board said. I didn’t know how to do his head “How will I get money? How it (Math was quite hard for me). So I walked willT I get food?” “But wait,” he said, “I have slowly up to the board and lightly grabbed the something more important. I have colors.” Red, chalk. It fell out of my hand and made a small blue, purple, green, brown, white, orange, and clunk with pink swirls around it. I grabbed it yellow. He glanced at his canvas and placed with the sound of my peers laughing at me and blue shapes in the corner. Next, he used yellow making foggy brown haze. I walked up to my to make stars. Soon the artist painted all the teacher a small man with a big black mustache, colors in a mad fiesta! While he worked, he and said “I can’t do this problem Mr.Costello.” sang this song, “I love my colors they make He responded with “and why not Mr. Gottlieb?” me laugh!” He got up and picked up pots and “Because of the colors,” I said matter of factly. pans as he danced. Then people started hearing To this day I will never forget the way he his music. A crowd gathered around. Then they shouted at me. “Quit that nonsense and give me started to sing along! an answer!” he screamed. All of a sudden blue filled the sky! The I shrunk back into the corner as I artist stopped his singing. The people were still whimpered and tried to explain to him again dancing, it filled their heart! He walked outside. that I couldn’t. He refused to listen and sent The artist saw all of the people with pots and me to the principal’s office for insubordination. pans singing his song. “I must be dreaming” he They telegraphed my mum and pa. They were thought, “I must be in a deep sleep or am I?” quite mad at me. I will never forget that day. He was not dreaming. Art is a star. Art is Everything was dark and brackish for almost a a figure of honor. This artist truly believed in his week. But they’re back now and they bring me a art. He was the art. kind of madness that will never stop and I could never go on without it.
- 34 - COLOR GALLERY
Chloe Romberger CHS Grade 9
Jennifer Lopez-Ruiz CHS Grade 12
Samaia Akbari CHS Grade 9
- 35 - Jeanne Berthy Buford Grade 10
Marshall Baker CHS Grade 10
Norah Floyd Buford Grade 7
Zoie Napper CHS Grade 11 - 36 - Rosie Boatner-Doane CHS Grade 12 Carmen Day CHS Grade 12
Yemaya de Lorenzo Eberly CHS Grade 12 Rachael Inlow CHS Grade 12 - 37 - Elena O’Brien CHS Grade 11 Anna Meyer CHS Grade 10
- 38 - C’Erra Rhodes CHS Grade 11 Reid McLean CHS Grade 12
- 39 - Lucy Scott Buford Grade 7
Jakobe Chisholm Venable Grade 1
- 40 - Addie Jack Walker Grade 5
Mazzy Ogden Walker Grade 5
- 41 - CHS Grade 9 Maya Tatel-Mcmillen Maya Tatel-Mcmillen
Sela Knight Walker Grade 5
Miri McLeod Walker Grade 5 - 42 - BRJD Academic Program BRJD Academic Program BRJD BRJD Academic Program Academic Program
- 43 - Jane Ormsby CHS Grade 9
Abigail Wilkinson Greenbrier Grade 3 Elke Doby CHS Grade 10 - 44 - Carley Wagner Burnley-Moran Grade 4 Estha Gore Jackson-Via Grade K Sakineh Mohammadi Clark Grade 3
- 45 - Siena Damiani CHS Grade 10
Jaemar Walker Walker Grade 6
Eva Floyd Walker Grade 5
- 46 - Shoukufeh Mohammadi Clark Grade 4 Rosie Boatner-Doane CHS Grade 12
Macey Brown Burnley-Moran Grade 4
Mark Melcon Jackson-Via Grade 1
- 47 - Kiran Klubock-Shukla CHS Grade 9
Cassie Hersman CHS Grade 11
- 48 - Cathryn Riley Venable Grade 4
Camila Faham Venable Grade K
- 49 - Buford Grade 8 Belaynesh Downs-Reeve Buford Grade 7 Annelise Green Johnson Grade 4 Shreya Mahadevan
- 50 - The Colors of Tears Chloe Brandon Walker Grade 6
he color draining out of the sky T Pink to orange, Orange to purple, Purple to black I can see the moon shining down with his dark, Yoselin Serrano-Lopez gloomy eyes Buford Grade 8 The bright, white stars looking at me
Drop after drop Coming down on my smooth, warm skin It was like the sky was crying with me
Puddle after puddle Forming around my wet, bare feet I was standing alone in the sky’s tears
Black Skies Rose O’Shea Walker Grade 6
rained of color. D Look into my grey eyes. See the world how I see it. Lavender hues on black skies. Valentine’s Day Stuck inside an old movie. Juliet Barron A dark cloud in a bright world. Johnson Grade 1 Can’t experience the world’s beauty. alentine’s day is in February. Lost in grays, whites, and blacks. The colors of Valentine’s day are deep No bright lights or shining stars. andV bright red, pink, and white. Just faded colors to fill these cracks. Sometimes purple, also. No warmth to heal these scars. Valentine’s Day is chocolate and candy, and kindness. Floating on an ebony sunrise. It is a great Holiday. Adrift in an inky black sea. Trapped down by these ashen ties. A drop of color to set me free.
- 51 - I Am Shane Pritchett Burnley-Moran Grade 3 I Am have four rotors so I can fly. Audez Roubia I am a thing that goes quite high. Burnley-Moran Grade 1 WithI a mighty roar I take to the sky. It’s really a sight for the human eye. am smart and cool. I can be used to spy. I wonder why the stars are far away. I have four rotors so I can fly. I I dream of swimming. I try doing side flips. I hope to learn more. I Am Yen Hoang Buford Grade 8
am an erratic and shy girl. I I wonder if my future life will be as interesting as I thought or not. I hear people talking and making noise everywhere. I see everyone is happy. I want my best friends to move to America to live with me. I am an erratic and shy girl.
I pretend I don’t know people are talking about me. I feel like I’m waiting for something that isn’t going to happen. I touch my phone to talk with my best friends in VietNam. I worry that I will go the wrong way. I cry when I feel uncomfortable about something. I am an erratic and shy girl.
Margaret Lather I understand that if I do not try, CHS Grade 11 my future will get worse. I say to myself that I have to work harder. I dream I could change my way of thinking about people around me. If I try to be alone, it doesn’t mean I am lonely. I am an erratic and shy girl.
- 52 - My Own Two Hands I Am Friendly Landon Carter Tabasum Zahid Johnson Grade 3 Buford Grade 7 (Written in response to the “With My Own Two am friendly, and sometimes happy. Hands” poem, which was read and discussed around I wonder if one day the fighting will stop in MLK, Jr Day.) Afghanistan.I I hear happy people when can use my own two hands to make cookies I see them celebrating Eid. for my neighborhood to pass down the I want everybody to help each other in hard happiness.I I can use my hands to help my family moments. by making dinner. I can bring kids toys to play I am friendly, and sometimes happy. with in the hospital, so that they can have fun. I can also give flowers to people in the store to I pretend sometimes I can do hard things. make them happy. I feel I am working hard. I touch flowers. I worry about my family in Afghanistan. I cry when I see poor people working hard to find food. I am friendly, and sometimes happy.
I understand when someone isn’t feeling well. I say something positive when I know I can do something hard. I dream to become a doctor. I try hard for my wishes. I am friendly, and sometimes happy.
My Own Two Hands Richard Lwamba Johnson Grade 3
(Written in response to the “With My Own Two Hands” poem, which was read and discussed around MLK, Jr Day.)
will use my own two hands by standing up for people who are getting bullied. When I Igrow up, I will use my own two hands to join Claire Munro CHS Grade 10 the Army and fight for the United States of America.
- 53 - I Am I Am Lila Peck Halima Talaso Clark Grade 2 Burnley-Moran Grade 3 am happy. am a thing that is tall. I wonder if you are too. I can lose my leaves in the fall. I hear you in the night. I can sometimes be small. I see you in the morning. The leaves around me are like a shawl. I want a new friend. I need sun, water and soil after all. I am sad. I am a thing that is tall.
I pretend I am happy. I feel sad. I touch the water of your tears. I worry about you. I cry when you go. I am mad.
I understand you are sad. I say I want to help you. I dream that I was with you. I try to help you. I hope I can help. Anne Goodall I am peaceful. Greenbrier Grade 4 I Am… I Am Luke Morrison Harrison Gaye Clark Grade 2 Johnson Grade 4 am sleepy all of the time am a cute person who likes the USA. I I wonder if I will get to explore the world I I wonder why I’m so awesome. I hear voices in my head I hear my sister when I tell her something I see mountains up ahead and she starts talking. I want to explore through time I see myself when I look in the mirror. I am proud I want to sleep so I can wake up good. I am a cute person who likes the USA. I pretend to be a lion I want to play violin with my sister. I feel pain I feel that I have to sleep. I hug my mom I touch the blanket when I’m sleeping. I worry about my sister I worry about my mom and dad. I cried when I was a baby I cry when my sister hits me. I am weird I am a cute person who likes the USA. I know that I’m cute. I understand everything I think people should believe that I’m awesome. I say thank you I dream that I was president. I dream about kindness I try to sleep. I try my best I hope I become president. I hope to be a scientist I am a cute person who likes the USA. I am brave - 54 - I Am Marhaba Fnu Clark Grade 2 am strong. I wonder about a pony. I hear songs. I see birds. I want a big doll and pony. I am kind.
I pretend I am a teacher. I feel happy. I hug my baby brother. I worry about my brother. I cry when I see my grandma. I am helpful.
I understand what my teacher says. Gabriella Reppucci Burnley-Moran Grade 4 I say good words. I dream about scary stuff. I try my best. I hope about my birthday. I Am I am a girl. Antonio Brittle Clark Grade 2 am a boy. I wonder who built my house. I hear birds making noise. I see stuffed animals. I want Doritos. I am a boy.
I pretend to be Superman. I feel happy. I touch the sky. I worry there’s a ghost in my room. I cry because I’m scared. Burnley-Moran Grade K I am a boy.
I understand math. I say, “I love my teacher!” I dream about my friends. I try to save the day. I hope nobody’s mean to people. I am a boy. Zachary Wilder-DeMicco Zachary Wilder-DeMicco
- 55 - WINTER Liam Tucker How to Make a Snowman Greenbrier Grade 4 Alonzo Brown When Clark Grade 1 It’s time for winter tep One: First, you need three snowballs. Now it’s S If you don’t hurry up, it will melt. Time for snow, then it’s time for Step Two: Then, you need two raisins for the snowman. You need to put the raisins Everyone to give and at the top. Receive. Step Three: Next, you need one carrot for the nose. You put the carrot at the top. Step Four: Then, you need two sticks for the Snow Day arms. You need to look on the ground for the sticks. Samantha Paurillo Greenbrier Grade 1 Step Five: Then, you need a hat and a scarf. When the snowman is finished, you can knock it down. hen it snows, I like to make a snowman. Sometimes I make it a snow girl. I make aW bun if it’s a girl. I don’t have carrots, so I do fingerprints. I have hot chocolate and something hot to eat.
Ice Sculptures and Hot Cocoa Jack Helton Greenbrier Grade K
make ice sculptures out of ice. It is fun. I like to play with ice sculptures. I like hot cocoa.I It is yummy with marshmallows. I like hot cocoa so much. It’s SO yummy. I like it with sprinkles.
Winter Iggy Scherz Jackson-Via Grade 1 see snow. I I hear the wind. I taste hot chocolate. Daniel Maurer I smell evergreens. Jackson-Via Grade K I feel cold.
- 56 - A Spring Day Katherine Scharf Johnson Grade 3
In a Snow Globe he wind blows quietly Ivy Thompson T as a melody plays. Greenbrier Grade 2 A sweet little girl (An excerpt) thinks of fun summer days as her mother bakes pies and ne cold night, when the sky looked like a her father cuts trees. checkerboard dotted with black and white, Out of the corner of her eye, theO wispy wind blew loudly like a cat’s purr. the sweet girl sees Soft snow sprinkled the windows of a house, my a cute little fawn. house, in which I will tell you a story. “Oh!” she thinks, Now on that very night, I was sleeping “What a wonderful day. sound as a kitten. A furry, black kitten was Oh, what a wonderful day.” curled up sleeping on my lap. As my lavender clock hanging on the gray wall ticked midnight, a creamy light blue portal appeared on a crystal The Beauty of Spring snow globe sitting on my side table. My wooden bed began to shrink until it became so small Harper Ullrich a mouse could use it as a doll’s bed. My bed Jackson-Via Grade 4 began to float. It sucked itself, carrying me into the snow globe at light speed. Then, I woke up. ll I want is for spring to come. The pitch black walls around me frightened ATo feel the warm grass me, and swirling things were surrounding my Air blowing on my cheeks floating bed. I could hear screams, terrified As I pick wildflowers screams, in the distance. I screamed with them. And see the pink blossoms on the trees blooming. I buried my head into my pillow and went to In spring, I catch butterflies. sleep. I dip my toes in the gurgling creek. When I woke up, I was sitting in my I wish I could get rid of the snow and the cold wooden bed, but this was not my room. I was With just a flick of my hand. confused, as confused as a deaf cricket who All I want is for spring to come. could not hear his friend’s call at night. I stepped out of bed, and my feet were on top of a pair of light purple, furry bunny slippers. I smiled and opened the door…
Paisley Brown Venable Grade K
- 57 - Spring Rainy Music Jazhara Bryant Quinn Connaughton Venable Grade 3 Walker Grade 5 pring is when we sing. Spring is when we are dancing. he Weather Outside Might be Weary IS see the children playing But it is a musical world in the lovely season—spring! OutT there in that storm Spring is fun! Of Rain with Drums and Basses Banging on my Roof that Night Of Sparkling Rain Spring On a Window Eliza Hendrick Oh it’s a chorus of low voices Venable Grade 3 On my Porch lowers are blooming, Oh it’s artwork on watercolor Bright colors afoot, It’s a Great Night JustF like a rainbow. A Musical Night Streams have to flow As birds lift their wings To take their first flight Into the night. The Storm Ella Love SPRING Walker Grade 6 oom!! Spencer Halverson Crack!! Venable Grade 3 B Spring is The lights simmer down Peaceful The darkness and the wailing of the wind Sounds like the splashing of water Radical Immaculate Drip Nautical Drop Green Rain splashing and hitting the ground Making brown, muddy puddles
The Wind Crack! Aidan Shanks Walker Grade 6 The power’s out The house is dark and scary hen the wind whistles It gets me thinking Through the grass the flowers bloom Of the terrible things in life. InW the sparkling air With the wind I blow Simply on the wind I fly With the wind I leave
- 58 - Storm Geoffrey (“Will”) Maurer Jackson-Via Grade 4 The Good Old Days sailor came to me, “Sir, I don’t think we should go,” he said as he gazed at the sky. Ev Wellmon A“It looks like a storm is brewing,” he sighed. Walker Grade 6 “No!” I said. My voice sounded angrier than I meant. “I promised I would get the merchandise hose were the good old days there today.” “Okay” he gulped, now looking T When we flew down the highway terrified, “but you’ll be sorry.” In our big, red truck As I walked around the ship, I noticed When I thought life couldn’t get better all of my crew appeared scared. We were about While I ran around half naked a quarter of the way to Greece when it started And when I rode shotgun raining. Not drizzling, but pouring! The wind And the wind mixed with whipped across my face. Our ship bounced Grandfather’s bellowing voice up and down as the waves pounded the sides. Those were the good old days CRACK, BOOM, CRASH! Lightning struck the mainmast! Time has passed A huge wave lifted me and swept me Things have changed off my feet. I fell down into the ocean! The But all I can think about water was in a furious rage. The foaming water Are the good old days swirled around me. I immediately sank. It was like the water consumed me! Those were the good old days I thought I would not see daylight again! I When I could explore the woods for hours could not hold my breath much longer. Half When rainy days were the best days swimming, half pushed by the water up to Or when five dollars was the best present the surface, I gulped the air. Then suddenly, I I could imagine grabbed hold of a barrel floating towards me. As Those were the good old days I held on for my life, I saw the rest of my ship torn to pieces. Time has passed Then, I slipped. My fingers couldn’t Things have changed hold on! A huge wave lifted up the barrel and But all I can think about it smashed down on my head so hard I was Are the good old days knocked unconscious! The next thing I knew, I was lying on a beach with half my crew The good old days that won’t come again standing near me. This terrible, petrifying storm The ones we all know are was over. Dead and gone The ones that I wish my children could have Evil Darkness Those good old days Lily Pepper Time has passed Buford Grade 7 Things have changed Awe Astounded, flabbergasted Open-mouthed wonder at the whispering willow Wordless, chilling Unfathomable - 59 - Vindication of the Christmas Tree Farmer has been boring into my brain since childhood. A few minutes later, I see a family marching Ian Clickner back up the hill, triumphantly dragging their CHS Grade 11 plunder behind them. The father and son nod at me with an air of approval as they head to t’s that time of year again. The time for their car, the young daughter following in tail which I spend all year preparing and yet with increasing excitement. The mother stops canI never justify my efforts to myself. As the by to pay, and though her natural reaction is to families drive up in their SUVs with surly be taken aback when I tell her the price, I can teenage sons plugged into their devices, eight- tell from the twinkle in her eyes that she knows year-old daughters whining about their hunger, it’s worth it. Behind her, I see the father and son mothers lamenting their lack of coffee, and working together to rig it up to their car. This fathers present only because the task ahead is is a chance for both to engage with each other apparently a “man’s job,” I shiver in the cold for once, and for real world skills to be passed of December in front of my house, wondering on, even if they are as simple as tying knots. why I do this. Why are these people more and Their job complete, it’s time to round up the more resentful of a beloved tradition every year? mother, who has taken up conversation with And there never seems to be as many of them me, and the daughter, now curiously exploring coming out to my farm nowadays anyway, so I my property. But it is clear that they themselves keep losing business. The fake alternatives that don’t want to leave either. One by one, they department stores sell must have gotten more slowly climb back into their car, temporizing popular than I realized. I guess if convenience to avoid returning to the urgency of their 21st always wins, then one day the whole world century lives. The daughter is the last one to will be made of plastic. But at least I make a go, unable to help herself as the brightest smile profit from this job, right? Right? If you looked falls upon her lips while she is waving to me. up “labor of love” in a dictionary, you’d find a Then she hops into the vehicle, and as it starts picture right next to it of me with my axe; that’s rolling away, I see the family engaged in a jovial how my work treats me. I work eleven months conversation, enjoying each other’s company. of the year on a product that I eventually only As the Christmas tree on top of the car fades out sell for $25 apiece and each family buys only of view, I realize I am feeling warmer now. one of. And sales are all over in a month. No wonder my wife calls this an addiction and my Suddenly, I remember why I do this son says he wants to be nothing like me. Their every year. And I know that I am justified. words prick me with surprising amounts of pain, just like the needles they always complain about me tracking inside.
I watch the families tromp down my hill Christmas with their saws, each searching for their prize Timothy Choo for what seems to be an eternity. By the time Johnson Grade 1 you’ve picked out the one you want, you might as well use it to celebrate Easter. I’m freezing hristmas day is on December 25th. my tuckus off out here, but I know I can’t go Some think Santa is a myth. inside to warm up or they’ll be banging on my But,C he is real, though he might be known door in less than a minute requesting service. by different names. Either that, or they’ll run off without paying. Christmas Eve is the night before. I finally hear the all too familiar sound of the hand saw feebly scratching away, a sound that - 60 - Six Word Stories
Buford Grade 8
Hey Alexa, delete Dad from contacts. Shams Al Molhem
Let my words speak multiple languages. Nevaeh Rush
Blue, wild eyes. He’s an adventure. Cate Vaughn
Secluded and windy, a new path. Lucy Armengol
Artemis tensed, moon glaring with her. Kaymin Hester
Warning: flying objects may hit you. Amalia Ventre
“Now hiring, small person who’s fast.” Neva Boyd Eve Keesecker Clark Grade 4
Tam Coe Greenbrier Grade 2
Halloween Joel McCabe Jackson-Via Grade 1 Venable Grade 1 Venable hear trick or treat. I I smell pumpkins. I see the moon and stars. I feel costumes. I taste candy. August Nesic
- 61 - The Silence Without: The Music Within “I wish to join them!” It says I’m sorry, we must go Anna Bon-Harper “I want to go and play with them!” CHS Grade 11 We really must hit the road ere we sit We really must hit the road The child and I H For there is work at home In the complex silence There is silence to be sat in Of our quiet mind And ambitions to be had A song starts “Stupid girl!” She yells at me Something about quiet “You’re running away from your only dream! About the oppressiveness of silence To live simply and be free!” “Sometimes quiet is violent” I listen to her words The music swells around me They touch some part of me Oh joyful, desperate cry Still I shake my head An idea has been transmitted “That simplicity is not meant to be” From someone’s spirit, to my mind There’s simplicity in silence I want to run away I know that much is true Take a backpack full of books But how can anyone leave it quiet A map, a toothbrush When there’s so much here to do? And a sandwich for the road So I return Take myself somewhere new From my world away A place I’ve never seen And sit here on my bedroom floor A far-off world I heard about And hear the music fade Once upon a dream “Sometimes quiet is violent” With people I’ve never met I hear the laughs and shouts Who speak some distant dialect But slowly, I turn my head Which shows me just how little I know And let the song play out Just how far there is to go *The quote “Sometimes quiet is violent” is from the song I’ll trade in books and sandwiches Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots, which inspired this Label my map with unknown roads poem. Tell stories of my past Of that which I hold close
Of the song that bid me “Go” If I Were President Amelia Freilich I hear the people’s voices Clark Grade K Their laughs and screams and shouts And in the garbled sounds of fun f I were President, I would have a law and The child inside cries out my law would be to not dig up coal because I want to save the world.
- 62 - Sophie Weaver Greenbrier Grade 4 Walker Grade 5 Walker Jose Cerecedo Manzanares
Isaac Huaypuna Buford Grade 7
- 63 - Making a Difference: A Poem for Two Voices Lucy Armengol Buford Grade 8
Thoughts Lucy Lucy I live in a world that is torn Everywhere I look there is a new chance, I dream to make a difference, A new lesson, But I am “too young” It is hard to process it all. And I understand “too little” Ideas float around scattered in my brain, I am facing barriers, I try to organize them, I am not alone, but sometimes it feels that way To put them each in files My mind is lonely, searching. So I can understand the mess. Significance is a strange thing, Sagan Once you think you’ve got it He got the mess, The world turns upside down. He understood, that you must work In scattered ideas, Carl Sagan Littered about He was born to a world of change Some a gold mine And he tried hard to keep up. Others unnecessary. He found a way to share the words But he knew that each thought That he needed to say. Must be cherished And his meaning came across, Because that is what makes us human. Innocent, but not without an intention He thought of humanity often, for a man that looked He had the drive that I am always searching for. at the stars, He was so filled with knowledge, His ideas of life It teemed out like a singing waterfall. gave many a light they had been looking for. His words and voice Were music that shared his deep knowledge. Lucy Eloquence was his friend. Sagan is a light, He captured my people’s mind. He shows me the way when things get dark, He made his difference. New ways to look at things, Challenging all that I thought. Optimism was a friend of his Both I use it to calm my We both tried to make a difference, Thoughts, reckless emotions Even if we don’t know how, That surely will destroy me, Eventually he learned, I’ll learn If I do not take caution, the hole will swallow me. You have to try, A black hole that my light can’t escape from… My position is small, His is large, But we each do something. Both We must both expect that not all others We both get that thoughts are a process, Will accept the science of thought They grow and learn, like you and me. And the thought of science. Each is a flower that you must be careful with, If the wind comes The petals may fly away, No hope for the thought, No longer true to itself. We must protect each thought with an open mind. - 64 - Family Expression Lucy Sagan Words and art, they are each a message, No one is perfect, That you have to decipher. Lessons must be learned, A stroke of a pencil, a pen, a brush Never take your family for granted, It is freedom, I express myself with art A gleaming treasuring, that outshines all others. I become it, and it will never hold me back. A beacon he lost sight of, My feelings, emotions, dreams He is lucky to have found it again. are channeled into art. Art is worth a million words, even more Lucy It is worth a feeling, If family is a beacon, Art can make you feel something, I am a faithful follower, Wonder, hope, change the world. Of course things don’t always go right, I am free, chains could not hold me, But I know that it is just rough waters, I see the blurry truth, I am lucky, loved Not clearly, but I can see a little. Rough waters calm down eventually. I understand more. Sagan Both His speech is so eloquent, We both had loving families, How could it not be part of himself? Who taught us and loved us, While his feet tread a long, worn path That made amends because His words that are spoken in the tongue of an expert They understand love is love, Still make it to the people, And family is family. They learn as he learns Each day is something new, His words, words upon words, A change and a growth, an addition, About worlds upon worlds. That changes what family means each time. He learns from his struggles, his ideas It brings with it a deeper and greater Bring new begins and ends. understanding. It makes sense that the man that defined Life was so full of it himself.
Both We both get wrapped up in work, Trapped, unable to understand what we Are doing needs to be rethought. But when we finally open our eyes There is an opportunity, we have to race to reach it. We must try to balance freedom, expression, and work. To not be pulled under by the strong currents of work, And not float up with the freedom of expression. Science is a strange thing, We live science everyday, We search and wonder, for science, so that we will learn and grow. Stella Faiello This is the struggle of life Venable Grade 3 and we live it everyday, With the pleasure to be part of it all. - 65 - Tesla Gomez-Berlio Walker Grade 6
Scorpions Donta Morris Jackson-Via Grade 4
corpions Sharp, deadly S Crawling, fighting, stinging Killing in one hit Predator
Ana Serrano Walker Grade 6
- 66 - House of Gold (or Old Man’s Words) Gray Ryan 8. If I were to change something in time, Walker Grade 5 Even a little tablet, I would heal who I have hurt, 1. Life is too short, Douse what I have burnt, To build a house of gold, And return, So I made one of wood, Where was made regret. And another of stone. 9. I have loved 2. I took life for granted, I have hated, You see, Who I love, And that includes I will not forget. You and me. 10. For that house of gold 3. If only, Shall never be built, I had not let life And of trying, Be so plain, I have no intent. Let time’s water Drip down the drain, Of reality, Like a streak of light, Each second, Facing terrible blight.
4. I would travel ‘round the world, And gather all the trades, I would travel ‘round the world, Meeting Men and maid. Mickai Goodwin 5. But still, Venable Grade 3 I’ve known many people Some walk this earth today Some, I don’t know where they are, And some have passed away.
6. I’ve seen heavens, I’ve seen hells, I’ve seen situations sublime,
7. I’ve seen good men, I’ve seen bad men, And some, Aubreigh Hector Greenbrier Grade 4 Are on the line.
- 67 - Neurosurgeon: A Comparison Between What May Be and What Has Been Kaymin Hester Buford Grade 8
Kaymin I am but a girl, Still growing into myself. I am but a learner, Still trying to discover the ways of the world. But I dream to heal, To save lives, To give hope. I dream to be a hero. Dr. Keith Black I was but a boy, But I’ve grown into myself. I am still a learner, I’ve only discovered a portion of this world. I dreamed to heal, To save lives, To give hope. And now I have become a hero.
I represent what he used to be. I represent what she may become.
The mind is a maze, A Tiger Country. We will learn to navigate it, To give hope to those who have given up. To save lives that were sworn to be already lost.
I want to repay those who will give their lives for themselves. Those who have the self love Self respect To want to live. I want to give the chance to those who deserve a life Free of the misery that they fight every day. I repay those who are strong Who are wise beyond their years Who are brave enough to continue to fight. I give them a chance to live a life Free of the monsters they battle.
- 68 - The mind is a mystery, A Tiger Country. Learning what may lie within is a journey all within itself, But like thieves in the night We will slip in Gather what we need Take out what they don’t.
However The truth is I have so much to learn to operate So much to experience to empathize So much that you can’t learn in a class or read in a book And so much that you can. There was so much I had to learn That didn’t stem from a book. That came from lessons taught Not in a school But in a home. She’ll learn those lessons too. But it doesn’t matter how much she reads Because she’ll learn them only as she grows.
We will use lessons taught In the home In the classroom In the experiences To save lives And to navigate the Tiger Country That is the mind.
D’Ante Chambers CHS Grade 11
- 69 - Perished Esther Larson-Torres CHS Grade 10
red spark awakens, A Flames rippled through the land Ego Tripping Rose, a bud of a flower Madelyn Packer A flower whose elegance is revealed once newly CHS Grade 9 bloomed, but now is covered in a layer of thorns that guard it, rom the day I came out, I was number one; A pick, a prick, a touch then, crimson I was born with an ego brighter than the A crimson stream runs down your skin, in a sun.F haze As the flowers guard-like gates they lash out. I am a beautiful person, always have been; Then all was silent… I only know three words, I ALWAYS WIN.
You clenched the now marginally wilted bud I just lost a tooth, it came out gold; As its now dead roots, reaching for dirt, never Fountain of youth, please, I’ll never get old. again to touch the earth. Covered in the grasp of the cold, gusting wind Usain Bolt, I heard he is fast; It was plucked, weeded from the once warm Hey I raced him, he came in last. earth It was taken, moved away, by force; Albert Einstein, I heard he was smart; Slowing killing it, for its beauty, to claim it as Then I guess it will be kinda hard, to tell us your own. apart.
A hot breeze brushed past your fingertips, Mr. Incredible, people say he is strong; lightly rubbing the delicate petals fondly Ever since I came to life, he has been long gone. A movement, that caused the friction from the tips of your fingers, to form a warm-up gust of My voice is sweeter than a lollipop; wind, Made Mariah Carey, her voice and her music That alighted a heated spark, as flames were career stop. born, The blood-coloured beauty, went up in Played Lebron James, one verses one, bittersweet orange flames Yeah his ankles got broken, ended up calling Dancing on the wind, as the petals slowly 911. perished one after another. Flames devoured the last remaining petals of the I paint so well, it makes Picasso look bad; fallen flower. Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Bending down, you gaze at the smolders, Michelangelo you can add. picking up the remains, ignoring the small smudge that the ash had formed. As you can see, I am the best; Dying your fingers a striking, black No don’t doubt me, all I do is finesse. Smoke flared as the burned petals, the last reminder, turned to ash in your open hand.
- 70 - Time Anonymous CHS Grade 11
hey won’t pay me any mind T Cause I’m not worth the time Maybe if I run away I’ll find a place to stay And they’ll give me The time of day
They won’t pay me any mind Cause I’m not worth the time Maybe if I tried I wouldn’t have to hide And then I’ll find Who I am inside Kiki Dowell CHS Grade 12 They won’t pay us any mind Cause we’re not worth the time Maybe if we stop obeying What everyone is saying And reach for the stars Instead of staring at our scars
They won’t pay us any mind Cause we’re not worth the time We’re all tired So we climb a little Elena O’Brien higher CHS Grade 11 Hopefully, we’ll reach the top of this mountain we’re climbing And stop feeling like we’re dying
- 71 - A Rainbow Nature Rebekah Zafra Camden Baucom Greenbrier Grade 3 Buford Grade 8
oday was a beautiful day. Then, it started to hrough the empty town, rain. I asked my mom, “Can I go outside?” By the splashing creek, T She said, “Yes.” T Beyond the city, I went outside, walking slowly. I felt Above the desolate plateau, the water. It was cold, and it felt like snow. I sat Underneath the dark blue sea, down and looked at the sky. The sky was gray Within the wild forest, and the clouds filled the sky. Everybody in my Alongside the once great highway, neighborhood was inside. I felt like I was lonely Across the bustling city, in Antarctica. Far from the tree-lined road, Later, it stopped raining. The clouds Away from the clatter of shops, went away. Then, a rainbow appeared. Towards the unknown, Everybody in my neighborhood came out and Below the clouds, saw the rainbow. During all hours, Outside of all the homes, Amid the world, nature calls in the most Simile Tree Poem revolutionary of silences. Darrius Fuller Clark Grade 2
tree sounds like a baby sleeping. The Sun Is Out A tree’s base looks like a rocky road. A Shahad Shakir A tree feels like a rigid pumpkin. Johnson Grade 1 A tree smells like fresh flowers in the wild and in the spring. love the sun. It glows in the morning. AtI morning sometimes I love to play. The Wind Today is fun. Liam Hatch I love it. Greenbrier Grade 3
hoosh, whoosh, the wind blows W hard knocking into ships Blow on, blow Beautiful Sun at Last Eleanor Erkelens Blow to the north Clark Grade 2 Blow to the west Be strong, be brave he sun is like an orange on fire, Travel to everywhere T The sun is like a giant ball on fire, and The sun is as hot as an oven, carry The sun is as yellow as cheese, my words The sun is a force, too powerful to look at, The sun is as tall as a skyscraper.
- 72 - Marco Lopez Saucedo CHS Grade 9
Monita Tamang CHS Grade 9
- 73 - Cilantro Elijah Viglietta Walker Grade 6
ilantro in food I take one bite of the food IC instantly scream
Pizza Courtney Millard Burritos Greenbrier Grade 4 Katie Diego-Cruz Greenbrier Grade 4 epperoni, onions, cheese P Every topping you can dream urritos are so yummy. Think about the cheese on top. You can hear me eat. Love it all until we drop. Crunch!B Crunch! Crunch! Feel the fluffy, crunchy crust. So delicious! Eat the peppers, turn to dust. Pizza is good, you see. When they come out of the oven, Come and share a slice with me. they smell so good. The slippery grease on my hands makes me drop my burrito.
Libby Bennett Clark Grade 1
- 74 - Takis Apple Keven Arizmendi-Garcia Mark Melcon Greenbrier Grade 4 Jackson-Via Grade 1
hen you put the Taki in your mouth, can be red, yellow or green. you bite it—crunch, crunch, crunch. I I am yummy! TheW pepper dissolves in your mouth. I have a leaf and a stem. You see a cup of water, I am small. and you start chugging it. I am hard and smooth. Then you drop the glass cup. I am a snack. It shatters and breaks, I am an apple. and then you say, “Uh oh. Bye, bye,” but first let me eat more Takis. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Angel Carrasco Sanchez Clark Grade 3
Dumplings Brayden O’Brien Greenbrier Grade 4
umplings are so white, they look like the moon shining D on snow on a cold night. When you bite, Sweet Watermelon you will be filled with delight. Josie Sifri There is chicken and vegetables, Greenbrier Grade 4 with a pinch of pepper and a little spice. weet, juicy watermelon in my mouth When you dip it in soy sauce, Bright red and green and very tasty it might splash, S Gross black seeds surprise inside but it will be a splash of joy. I wrap my hands around the slice and take a big bite. Be careful! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! It might be hot, When I’m done, my clothes are covered but it will fill you with warmth. in red, juicy stains, If you don’t like meat, and my hands are sticky and wet. we have vegetarian ones. I don’t mind the mess Don’t make a mistake. because this delightful fruit is the best. Get a meat one.
- 75 - Learning Gratitude Abby Paquette about everything that comes together to make us. Buford Grade 8 Lastly, Rabbi Tom taught me the importance of figuring things out for yourself. He n Hebrew, rabbi translates exactly to the told me one day, that all the stories had already been I word teacher. My rabbi, Tom Gutherz, has studied, people have already come to conclusions, been teaching me since preschool, though I made speeches, and provided interpretations. didn’t realize it. This year I had to work very Rabbi Tom told me that I wasn’t doing anything closely with Rabbi Tom to write a speech. My new, I wouldn’t be the best, but that I had to learn speech was focused on the subjects of craving, all this stuff for myself. Not so I could be the best gratitude, satisfaction, and desire. I realized or the first, but so I could have my own ideas, my that these weren’t just common themes in the own struggles, conclusions, and interpretations, bible stories I was studying, but in real life. and that even though everything has already been On Wednesdays, I would come into done, people will always do them again, because Rabbi Tom’s office and sit down at his table. some things you just have to learn for yourself. We would read quotes from the bible and then I still think about these lessons today discuss them. I would bring up questions or and I carry them with me throughout daily life. I broad ideas, and he would narrow down my think that working with Rabbi Tom provided me thoughts, teaching me one lesson after another. with the lesson of a lifetime. He taught me how One particular quote left a lasting impression on to understand desires, and how to appreciate the me: “The riffraff in their midst felt a gluttonous world. I will always remember how he said to think craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, about what you are saying, what you want, and to ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish think about your intentions. And I will always, that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, always, figure things out for myself, although the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. that doesn’t mean I’ll figure them out alone. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing And now, since working with Rabbi Tom, I have at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!’” This become a more aware person in my community. quote provided me with the basis of my speech. Rabbi Tom explained to me about wanting and needing. About the difference between desires, which are typically good, and cravings, which might be bad. He broadened my understanding of the world, by showing me how our minds work, how we deal with satisfaction and craving. Another thing Rabbi Tom taught me was the importance of having gratitude in your life. You can always say please and thank you, smile at people, and just be really polite, but is that gratitude? Yes, in a sense, but there is also so much more. Rabbi Tom made me think more deeply about the concept of appreciating everything around you, and giving thanks for it. He would say that so many little things make up the world around us—there is the wind, the sun, the sky, the clouds, the grass, the trees, the people with hair and mouths and lungs and Reid Douglas Greenbrier Grade 3 faces, and that we should express our gratitude - 76 - Your Voice Lauren Dugger CHS Grade 9 that you won’t be silenced. This in turn awakens more voices in people who may have felt that (In response to a class assignment after reading The they couldn’t do anything to help. There is Hate U Give) strength in numbers and the more people that a voice inspires, the more change will follow. As “What can I do?” is a common question. It I said before, you are the future and you must sounds like a person who wants to help but inspire the changes that you want to see. Right doesn’t know what to do. However, now those now there are people out there who will say that words mean the opposite. They are an excuse you are just children and that you don’t know that people use to justify the unwillingness to enough to make decisions about the world, but speak, the fear to make yourself known, and who knows better than those growing up with the feeling that your words will be ineffective. decisions made on their behalf? Many of you Everyone is made to be an activist of some sort. are affected directly by the problems in your When there’s a will there’s a way, even if your world, it’s been your life. As young people you way is to simply begin talking about the topic at bring new eyes, new perspectives, and new hand. ideas that can better the world. All you have to do is speak up. You, as young people, are the future of this world. The world that is shaped while you grow I once told a good friend that her greatest up is the world you must live in, the world you weapon is her voice. She struggled with the will build a family in, the world where your decisions being made that directly affected children will grow up. Do you want to see the her and the ones she cared about. While the environment die, injustice reign, and famine outcome was not favorable, she still continues decimate the world you and your loved ones to stand up and use her voice to better her have to endure? The world right now is flawed, community and there is power in that. I stand by but you, the future, have the power to change what I said to my friend, your voice is the best the world for the better. Your voice is a tool that weapon you have to right the wrongs in your you can use to forge the future. Every young world. The voice of a young person, your voice, person is responsible for the construction of has the power to inspire people, to bring about the society and the environment they live in. change, and to fight for what you believe in, so Yes, there will be obstacles and people that use it. will try and stop you from using your voice. At some point or another you won’t want to keep fighting, but your power is in using your voice to make a difference, even when it seems If I Were President hopeless or you are afraid. Tate Ryan Clark Grade 2 A young person’s voice carries a lot of power. It may seem like your ideas and thoughts are f I were president, I would tell the snuffed out by adults who think they know government to make houses for the poor. better, but your influence spreads wide and far. ThenI I would give the poor money. Then I Your voice can inspire people to take a stand would tell the people to not litter. Then I would with you. See, the power of a voice does not tell people not to smoke. specifically lie in directly changing the issue at hand, but in showing you are willing to fight, - 77 - Types of Mistakes Caitlin King, Esther Wells, Lucas Vincent, Sofia Yoder & Xan Pincham Venable Grade 4
istakes are different; certain mistakes you Stretch mistakes are when we really canM learn from and certain mistakes you can’t. challenge ourselves. For example, you try a How we think decides our results. We can’t challenging division problem and do your change ourselves if mistakes don’t happen. We best. But, you get the wrong quotient, so you can learn differently from different mistakes, try a different approach to solve the problem. such as stretch mistakes, a-ha mistakes, sloppy Another example of a stretch mistake is you mistakes and high-stakes mistakes. play piano and you try a complicated song. You High-stakes mistakes happen when get a note wrong, but you practice it more until you think you can do something but fail in the song sounds good. Stretch mistakes can be the process. When this mistake happens it can a good thing because you can learn a lot from be a bad thing and/or painful…for example, them. you want to send a secret to your friend, but Types of mistakes have different causes. accidentally send it to your enemy. Or maybe Usually high-stakes mistakes show up on a big you’re trying to beat your mom’s record of test. Sloppy mistakes are seen mostly when you quick swimming but don’t know how to swim are rushing to finish something. A-ha moments and start drowning. Another example, is when happen when you make a mistake, thinking it’s you run and do a front flip, but have no idea right, but realize later that you were wrong. how to do it and break your nose. You can stop Stretch mistakes take place when you are this type of mistake from happening by double trying something new that is not too hard, but a checking or ignoring the urge to do it, or just challenge. Mistakes are not really a bad thing, ask someone who already knows (or has already they are just something to learn from. tried). I like it and it makes no sense. But Brinceno, Eduardo. “Why Understanding These Four we can turn mistakes into positive things by Types of Mistakes Can Help Us Learn.” Mindset Works, edited by Carol Dweck, Eduardo Brinceno, and Lisa looking back, fixing, and learning. We will gain Blackwell, KQED News, 23 Nov. 2015, ww2.kqed.org/ knowledge and not make that mistake again. A mindshift/2015/11/23/why-understanding-these-four- way to stop this is to look at your mistakes and types-of-mistakes-can-help-us-learn/. Accessed 2 May find ways, habits and new patterns to help you 2016. improve. A-ha moment mistakes happen when we do what we think is right, but later find out that it was incorrect. For example, you call your grandma for her birthday, but you realize it’s the wrong day. Or, you get a hot chocolate and you are so excited to drink it, that you start to gulp it down. Your tongue swells because it was too hot. You probably never did this again because you realized it felt horrible. In short, we do what we think is the right thing, but it was not. You also don’t really think about the thing you’re doing, so you mess up. Tateyana White Walker Grade 6 - 78 - The Night of Terror The Dream of… Audrey Burgess Kendra Johnson Venable Grade 4 Johnson Grade 1
think that the night of terror really shows had a dream that I was in a world of madness. how badly women were treated during It was very scary and dark. There were suffrageI times. I mean, come on, would you pirates.I The pirate captain was Big Bones. He really want cell guards hurling you towards jail had a black beard. There were ninjas. There was walls, knocking you out, forcing tubes down a yellow ninja, blue ninja, red ninja, and the your throat and trying to convince your leader? most powerful one is THE GREEN NINJA! He Crazy, I surely wouldn’t. After the night of has all of the power of the other ninjas. terror, once people heard about it, they thought it was so terrifying that more and more people They have a master. His name is Master Kung. started helping the suffragists and all the women The ninja heard that there are pirates in town. were released from jail. They had a ship that can fly. They got ready for Women were hurled toward jail walls. A battle. The ninja had a special kind of armor. lot of them hit their heads against the walls of It can never be destroyed. They traveled by the cell and got knocked out. The first woman shadow. On the way, they saw a dress-up shop the guards threw, hit her head and was not with a bunch of pirate costumes since it was conscious. Her cellmate thought she was dead, close to Halloween. So they got on the ship and and had a heart attack. That night later became battled and won and went to bed. known as the night of terror. In protest to the things that went on during the night of terror, the women went on hunger strike. The guards in reply shoved tubes down the women’s throats and forced food down the tubes. It was very painful. The Battle The guards also tried to convince Alice Benjamin Thompson Paul, the suffragists leader, to be crazy so that Johnson Grade 1 she would get sent to a mental institution. They here are a lot of bad guys in the world of convinced the doctor at the jail, but when a Nexo. The bad guys’ master wanted to professional psychiatrist came to look at Alice takeT over the world. He was about to take it over Paul, she noticed nothing wrong. She said, but the Nexo knights stopped him. And then “Alice isn’t crazy, just brave.” the bad guys’ army came, but that did not stop So think about it, would you really want them. It kind of stopped them just a little bit. to be treated that way? Now, do you understand They started a battle. It took years for them to why women fought for their rights? If you do, stop. Then the battle stopped. It only took about good! six years. After six years, they rested. Then they battled with their new armor of gold. Then they brought their rolling kingdom and wiped Kamma, Anne. If You Lived When Women Won Their the bad guys out, but that did not stop his water Rights. 1st ed., New York, Scholastic, 2008, pp. 61–62. monsters. That was bad. The battle ended very, very bad. Why? I cannot tell you the ending.
- 79 - Zoey’s House Zoey Tessada Burnley-Moran Grade K There was not enough homes in the city.
Fatemeh Abdollahi Venable Grade 2
If I Could Live Anywhere Jane Cruthirds Clark Grade 2
f I could live anywhere, I would live in a I rural area in the woods and in a wood house. I would have six cats, four dogs, and one horse. I would have a fireplace in my living room. Dulce Garcia-Vega There would be a hot tub and my room would Greenbrier Grade 1 have a chair and a fish tank. Out my window, I could see the Blue Ridge Mountains. In one window, I could see my brother’s house.
The Neighborhood Abraizhia Morton Clark Grade 4
ooming cars going Z Past prickly plants dying Spikey balls rolling
Darren Huang Greenbrier Grade 2
- 80 - Morgan Thomas CHS Grade 12 The Gold Egg Ruby Hoier he walked through an ally and he found a carton Venable Grade 2 of a dozen eggs. He opened the box and there wasn’t just eggs. There was a big silver egg as nce there was an orphan named Ross. He big as you could imagine. There were gold eggs was not like the others. He was lonely all and the gold ones whispered, “Don’t take me.” theO time. But he did not know that he was about The silver one said, “Take me.” But Ross did to become very crazy. He was alone because not listen. He took a gold one and he smelled it. of how he looked…his hair! Everybody called It smelled like an egg. So he cracked it…Crack! him, “Ugly Bugly Hair Boy” and “The Fruitiest There was no yolk. There were bad spirits like a Fountain of Hair.” His freckles were a problem, girl to a goblin, a cat to a cougar, a yale doll to a too. There was one giant freckle right smack in Yeti and an airplane to a bone. the middle of his forehead. People called him, Ross was scared so he went back to the “Forehead of the Giant Dot.” orphanage and it was good. “Hi Ugly Bugly Hair He tried to escape plenty of times but it Boy.” But Ross said, “I don’t care.” Ross heard just didn’t work. The security guards just caught a noise that almost blew him away. He looked him. But this day would be such a crazy day. In out the window and saw a big, fat chicken laying fact it would be the craziest day of his life. And an egg. But that egg wasn’t just a regular egg! it is…THE GOLDEN EGG. So Ross ran outside and saw another gold egg. One day Ross was sitting down eating Everything was back to normal. his usual breakfast of oatmeal. He was also And they lived happily ever after! (And going to go on a walk after he finished. He had Ross never cracked a single egg again.) to go away so no kid would make fun of him. So
- 81 - Twenty Years Later do to my family?” Marcos screamed. Juana Casimiro Alcantara “Oh, Marcos. Want to know the truth Buford Grade 8 before you die? I’ll tell you since everyone else ’m here at this bar called live it with this thinks you’re dead.” random girl called Jenny that my best friend Martin grinned. MartinI hooked me up with. Martin told me she “I used you to get money to stop living had good looks, eyes like the sky, curly brown with my parents, to finally be someone that hair, very smart, responsible, loved animals, everyone respects. You may be wondering how I the kindest person—basically Martin described became rich by killing everyone you loved, am I this girl as perfect. So I, Marcos Vega, was so right? When I killed everyone, I stole everything excited to meet this girl. Yeah…no, she isn’t from them. When the detectives tried to figure the kindest person, she’s more petty than kind. out who did this, they couldn’t. You know why? She only talks about how she’s amazing, how Because I was that detective who ‘tried” to much money she has, how her daddy gives her solve the case! They didn’t know and they will everything. Everything that Martin told me never know. Well, Marcos, that’s all really…it about Jenny was the opposite. was good hanging out with you. I really mean it. A few hours past by and I’m still here Bye, my friend.” with this annoying person. It’s about 3:00 a.m. Boom! Marcos died on July 19, 2005. Everyone is basically knocked out by this point. Anyways, Jenny asked me if I wanted a drink. I Lost said, “Sure, why not?” When I finished my drink I started to Noah Salvatierra Walker Grade 6 feel dizzy and sleepy. My head started to hurt, he lost live everything was spinning, and I saw Martin T Lost. standing next to Jenny. They were talking to The lost die each other, but I couldn’t catch what they were Lost. saying. A few seconds past and I passed out. The lost will stay 20 years later… Lost. Marcos woke up and looked around. He Forever. was in his room, handcuffed to his bed. He laid The lost will stay there wondering what had happened. What was Happy, going on? A few moments passed and he saw Lost, Martin. He didn’t recognize him at first, but he Forever. noticed that he looked older and uglier. Then No Jenny came into the room. No “Babe, he’s awake,” she said. “What are The lost could live we going to do with him?” Lost. “Don’t know. Maybe kill him like we The lost could die did his family,” said Martin. Lost. “Well, if you’re going to do that, then do The lost could stay it now before the kids come.” Lost Kids? Marcos thought. Killing me? Like Forever. the rest of my family? Happy, He stared at them both, not saying a Lost, word, then started screaming for help. Forever. “No one can hear you,” said Martin. “Why are you doing this? What did you Find them. - 82 - Personification Poems Buford Grade 8 Lonely Desolate, forlorn The Hope Inside Me One is full of emptiness inside and out Optimistic Adrift, isolated Cheerful, expectant Bitter Ice cream truck right around the corner Ada Trowbridge Positive, up-beat Hopeful They Danced Giddily Alex Brandon Silly Childish, ludicrous I’m Sorry The bubbles danced giddily in the air Empathetic Frivolous, nonsensical Compassionate, caring Crazy Sympathy walks with me wherever I go Imogen Armstrong Understanding, concerned Affectionate The Extraordinary Vanessa Granados-Martinez Confident Positive, bold A Better Time A fish leaping out of water Nostalgic Brave, hopeful Longing, remembrance Fearless Knocks on the back door of your emotions Isabelle Buckner Yearning, sentimentality Reminiscence A Dark World Owen McKenney
The Upside Down World Tashi Green Jackson-Via Grade 4
he world is different Everything is changed and new StreetsT turned upside down
Green statue standing Abstract red city shining Pipe on the ceiling
Steps on a building A bridge leading to nowhere No one would believe!
Sahara Clemons CHS Grade 11
- 83 - College for Girls Elly Koester education, society would be less bright. Women Venable Grade 4 and girls have different perspectives that have created revolutionary ideas which improve the think that colleges were not fair to girls. For world. example: girls at Oberlin College had to wash,I clean the clothes, and serve the food to References: male students. They should have been treated -Kamma, Anne. If You Lived When Women Won Their Rights. 1st ed., New York, Scholastic, 2008, pp. 18-19. like the other students and been allowed to study -Lewis, Jone J. “Emma Willard Quotes.” ThoughtCo., more of the time. edited by Beatrix Lockwood, Lifelong Learning., 25 Mar. Men did not acknowledge girls’ and 2017. Google, https://www.thoughtco.com/emma-willard- women’s right to learn in the 1700–1800s. Men quotes-3530076. Accessed 16 Dec. 2017. thought girls’ minds were too small to learn and -Lewis, Jone J. “Lucy Stone Quotes.” ThoughtCo., edited by Beatrix Lockwood, Lifelong Learning., 1 May that they weren’t smart enough to go to college. 2017. Google, https://www.thoughtco.com/lucy-stone- Churches also thought it was against God’s will quotes-3530202. Accessed 16 Dec. 2017. for girls to go to college. Girls were allowed to -https://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/?resource=onli go to elementary school, so when they grew up neOnly&subset=document they could teach their sons to be good citizens. Women and girls were kept in the sphere of the house and famiy. That was not fair to them. I believe that girls and women are just as important as men. As Emma Willard said, “We [women] too are primary existences…not the satellites of men.” Emma Willard wanted to go to college but there was no college that would let her in because she was a girl. She wanted to fix that so she founded her own school, the Troy Female Seminary, in 1821. There they taught some of the same subjects as colleges, such as math and anatomy. Oberlin College opened 12 years after the Troy Female Seminary, in 1833. It accepted girls. Lucy Stone went there even though her father didn’t want her to. She even paid for it herself because she wanted to go to college like her brothers. Emma Willard and Lucy Stone were like pioneers. They were determined to have better schooling for themselves and other girls. Quoting Lucy Stone, “Whatever the reason, the idea was born that women could and should be educated. It lifted a mountain load from women. It shattered the idea, everywhere pervasive as the atmosphere, that women were incapable Alec Jackson CHS Grade 12 of education, and would be less womanly, less desirable in every way, if they had it.” In my opinion, if these women had not fought for an
- 84 - Women’s Clothing Before Suffrage Kiera Davis Venable Grade 4
think women’s fashion back then was exercised, they fainted! Men thought it showed uncomfortable and tight. This is what how pretty and delicate they were. It really just womenI wore until they got their rights: meant their corset was too tight. 1. Undershirt and long cotton underpants, 2. then came the corset (you needed help My beliefs are that women’s clothes putting it on), were awful to wear and motivated the suffrage 3. next came the wire hoop skirt, movement. 4. then came the cage, and 5. then came the dress. I think women changed a lot, too! They also wore too Kamma, Anne. If You Lived When Women Won Their Rights. 1st ed., Brodway, New York, Scholastic Inc, 2008, much. These women could not exercise! pp. 16–17. As you can see the clothes were much different than today, but let’s see what they did about it!
Women’s clothes were heavy. A skirt and petticoats could weigh 15 pounds! Long skirts dragged in the dirt and mud because roads weren’t paved yet. It was easy to trip going upstairs also. Women weren’t allowed to wear pants. Pants meant you were in charge. Women were not in charge, though the invention of the bloomer made that different.
One day, some women were wearing pants with ankle skirts. Boys were throwing stuff at them. Then Amelia Bloomer walked by. She saw them and immediately went home and made herself a pair. She put an ad in the newspaper and women everywhere had them. That is why they are called bloomers. Though men put a stop to it. Then the invention of the bicycle changed that. That was the clothes for riding, then they changed back into skirts.
Corsets. Corsets were the worst. They Gretchen Schlegel made it so a man’s hands could fit around a CHS Grade 11 woman’s waist. That was expected of women then. Sometimes they had to have surgery to have ribs removed! Sometimes they died!??????! Corsets were hard—made of steel or whalebone. They were so stiff you could barely bend over! Sometimes when women
- 85 - Why You? Ella-Mae Price Walker Grade 6 hy? W Why does this happen? That’s the real question. When all is well and somewhat working The brain stops running, the thoughts stop spinning and the heart stops pumping. Why does this have to happen to you? Why are you gone? You summon up the reason for life and why it’s there. Without you, the world goes on but it’s a less world. You die but the sadness is more alive and functioning than ever. You created something wonderful and now you are no longer there. We say your name, just so you are not forgotten, But how long can one go with the pain and suffering brought on by the reminder that your presence is no longer there. When will it stop? When will the heart stop aching to its breaking point? Will it be never and forever? Will your face still spin in my mind endlessly like a broken record? I believe it will, but be slowly, less painful as time twirls on and on. Maybe. Maybe it will be. Or not. But those are just my thoughts. Soon I will be gone and the memory of your face will be gone as well. But you will forever be in my heart and soul. The legacy of Lil Peep. But why? That’s the real question.
Srush Sardar Mohammad CHS Grade 9
- 86 - The Big Tower Iris Love Venable Grade 2
nce upon a time there was a family who moved to an old house. It really was a tower.O It was soooooooooo long. One day the family left the tower and left a little girl named Raina in the tower. She was two years old. Days went by fast. There was no sight of Raina’s parents. Raina was now 15 years old. She slept in all kinds of beds. Then one day, Raina decided she was going to leave the tower for good. She looked over the tower edge. It was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng way down. So she didn’t do it. One day a prince heard Raina singing so he followed the singing. He stopped, “I think it’s right here,” he said. He looked up at it and fainted. Then he woke up and started to climb five days. Later, the prince was still climbing. While the prince was climbing, Raina looked behind one of the beds and saw a button. So she pressed it and the whole tower went down. The tower got shorter and shorter so the prince made it up to Raina. Raina saw the prince. Raina told herself I need a better way to get down. She got some wings and flew down and guess what? Now the prince is stuck in the tower because it Wayne Bartholomew became taller and taller. Burnley-Moran Grade 4
Abby Faust CHS Grade 11
- 87 - Finding the Treasure Hassan Hidayat Greenbrier Grade 3
(A mixed-up myth)
ne time on Mount Olympus, Aphrodite and Demeter dropped their treasure in the greatO Mount Olympus Sea. That is where monsters live. The monsters found the treasure and hid it. Demeter was so sad that she didn’t let any plants grow. Then Aphrodite took Demeter in her love submarine and made the monsters love plants. Demeter magically poofed plants right into their faces, and the monsters chased them. Meanwhile, Demeter and Aphrodite were looking for the treasure. They looked everywhere, but no matter what, they couldn’t find it. Then they saw a door. They opened it, and there was so much treasure. They went back to Mount Olympus and shared the treasure with everybody. No one ever saw those monsters again. Jaerron Johnson Clark Grade 3
Ventriloquism Avarie Gentry Clark Grade 3 A Void of Space Benjamin Berthy hapter 1: How to Practice Walker Grade 6 C If you want to practice ventriloquism, you can look in the bathroom mirror and you need void of space to try to say stuff without moving your lips. Try A Silent to do the ABCs. The hardest things to say is a The whispering grass word that starts with N, M, W, and Y. Those Silent are the hardest. After the ABCs you can try A sound that’s calm words and words that start with N, M, W, and Silent Y. Then you can do harder words like try to say On a quiet summer evening ventriloquism with your lips not moving. It will Let us leave this world probably be hard but you will get the hang of it! So we can go to the place Where Chapter 2: What Do You Need all If you got your practicing down, you need to get is a puppet. You can find one at Barnes and Noble Silent or you can order one online. You can ask Santa Claus. Your mom might also have an old puppet that she used to play with. - 88 - Slime Moses Gboley Jackson-Via Grade 4
o gooey and slimy Julia Reppucci Loving and fun to play with Burnley-Moran Grade K ImaginingS something sticky Sinking into your hands Mentally for 10, 11, and upper-aged kids Exciting to make!
Bad Luck Blake Jennings The Crooked Man Johnson Grade 3 Adaisha Kerley Johnson Grade 1 n Friday the Thirteenth O I stepped on a crack in the sidewalk n the open fields there was a crooked, old under a ladder I house. It was all wooden. It was so old, all while watching a black cat cross my path. the paint chipped off it, but there was nothing I looked down and saw creepier than the crooked man! He had a a coin that was tails side up. crooked smile. He even had crooked pets. Now Just then a mirror fell from remember the legend of the crooked man. my next door neighbor’s window and broke. Bad Luck. The Swamp: My Love for Shrek Alex Baker Buford Grade 8 Jungle urky, trudging through the mud just to get to you. Casper Koch It hurts when I close my eyes and it hurts when I sleep. Jackson-Via Grade 3 TheM pain only numbed when you grace my presence. Some would call it horrendous. In my eyes n this tropical climate, You are no monster. The moonlight shows your true color. rain falls without a sound. It is not one of green, for it is one of hope— I Lush green forests The inner layers. and slippery, sinking mud, This is the part where you run away. Wild animals I call for you, I beg. roam the ground. Ogres have layers. A dark mucky place, Scary it seems. By all means, a lonely place it is.
- 89 - The Werewolf Frozen Sounds Griffin Brenner Emma Nappi Venable Grade 2 Clark Grade 3
nce upon a time there was a werewolf who rozen, not able to make noise liked to eat everything—cows, ducks, F Ready to yell, but can’t rats,O toads, frogs, and komodo dragons. One On the edge of a cliff, still can’t call for help night he was spying on his next meal—a pack Zig-zagging, wildly trying to scream of rats. He attacked the rats. “Mmmmm,” said Ending a mission, trying to scream VICTORY! the werewolf. But there was a big problem. Not saying a word anywhere No one could stop the werewolf from eating everything. Lots of animals got eaten and there Sadly, staying silent weren’t many animals left until one day a brave Out on a silent adventure man named Jhean Paul said, “I have had enough Unwanted in church choirs of this. I will send the werewolf away.” So he Never starting a conversation grabbed his sword and shield and went looking Daring enough to take another dead, silent for the werewolf. He found the werewolf eating adventure a cow. Jhean Paul said, “I will send you away.” Silent, silent as always The werewolf said, “you don’t have a silver Silent, frozen sounds stick.” “But I have a silver sword,” said Jhean Paul. They started to fight. The man won the fight. The werewolf had to be sent away. Now An Old Geezer Called Lou there are more than 200,000 animals. They all Asher Long lived happily ever after. Walker Grade 6
know an old geezer named Lou Running with the Wind Who would sit on the road eating stew Mia Tyree HaveI no fear, I would say Walker Grade 6 I’ll be home anyway run with the wind Then we’ll eat two raccoons at the zoo I My heart racing As far as I will go I don’t stop I feel my hair fly behind me Run I keep telling myself A Favorite Memory Run ‘til there is no tomorrow Amaryanna Magruder The dead grass is still beside me Clark Grade 2 The clouds turn a deep gray Everything stopped in time hen I was little, my aunty walked me to Just me running W Sweet Frog downtown. Then, we went The clouds growing deeper to the movie theater and we laughed at the They’re telling me to go back clown and I giggled and wiggled. Then, we ate A heavy drop of water popcorn and munched and crunched and drank Weighing me down a soda and slurped and burped. Then at night, I I keep running fell asleep in my aunty’s car and snored. Then, Everything now behind me when we got home she put me in the bed and we I’m still running with the wind both fell asleep together.
- 90 - The Three Dragons Kanahj Wilson Nurses Venable Grade 3 Alondra Najera-Martinez Clark Grade 2 (An adaptation from The Three Little Pigs)
am researching nurses. Two things my he Big D came up to a house but not any community helper does are they take ordinary house. It was a thick, tall, green careI of children and people who are sick. My grassT house. It was Jack’s house! The Big D said community helper works at a hospital. My “Oh little dragon, oh little dragon, let me come community helper wears scrubs. My community in.” “Not by the scales of my chinny, chin, chin” helper uses these stethoscopes, cuffs, and said Jack. thermometers. One interesting fact I learned about my community helper is some nurses help people in the emergency room and other nurses Shadows help people who are having surgery. Adele Luzar Greenbrier Grade K
The Beach Party his week, I learned about shadows. A couple Jakobe Chisholm T of days ago, I played with my shadow. You Venable Grade 1 need light. I can block the light. I can cast my shadow on the sidewalk. irst, I had a white party at Myrtle Beach. Everyone wore white clothes. We drove inF our car. We got out of the car. The beach looked perfect. Next, we went to get some food. When I Grow Up Yummy, yummy! We had chicken. It tasted Alex Yuan good. Then I was having fun from dancing. Greenbrier Grade 1 When it was time to go, I was sad. I said, “Nooo! Let’s stay.” hen I grow up, I want to be a police officer, because I want to give speeding tickets.W I want to be a police officer in China. I want a police suit and a police dog. I really want When I Grow Up a police badge. Bryn Shelton-Barnes Greenbrier Grade 1
hen I grow up, I want to be a dentist When I Grow Up because they make your teeth clean, and IW am a clean person. I want to be a dentist after Ladarious Barbour college. I want to be a dentist in Virginia. Clark Grade K want to be a policeman. I want to make sure I nobody gets hurt.
- 91 - Lamia West CHS Grade 12
- 92 -
Olivia Zumbrunn Greenbrier Grade 1