S Connecticut T StudenCONNECTICUTt Writers D E Volume XXIII N T W R I T E May 2011 Connecticut Writing Project R Volume XXIII Storrs, Connecticut ~ 1 ~ S May 2011 This publication was produced by the Connecticut Writing Project - Storrs. Director Editor in Chief Jason Courtmanche, Ph.D. Nadine Keane Graduate Assistant Director Program Assistant & Design Editor Sharlene Smith Sean Forbes Writing Intern & Copy Editor Sarah Garry University of Connecticut Department of English 215 Glenbrook Road, Unit 4025A Storrs, Connecticut 06269-4025 Office: (860) 486-2328 Fax: (860) 486-9360 [email protected] http://www.cwp.uconn.edu Cover Art by Delaney Grimaldi, Kindergarten, Frank M. Kearns Primary School. ~ 2 ~ Table of Contents 6 Foreword Elementary School, Grades K-5 Poetry 8 Love Tractors Logan Bouley 8 Affie Luke Jones 8 Walking My Dog Outside Ava El-Hachem 8 The Sky Lang Lee 9 Twinkle Star Twinkle Lauren Thompson 9 Feelings Andrew Vlach 10 Paper Scared Charlie Panella 10 Wild Horses Kaitlyn Sill 10 Finger Prick Caroline Brooks 11 In Petersburg I Walked Boris Moscardelli 12 Blue Lavinia Kosher 12 I Am the Sun Caroline Vlach 13 Where I’m From Gwenan Walker 14 Winter Michelle Parent 15 Joy Sophia Kodak 16 Luna John Rhodes 16 Snowflake Lauren Sampson 16 Silent Arrow Owen Plourde 17 Nature’s Simplest Beauty Regina Caggiano 17 Words Zachary Austin Elementary School, Grades K-5 Prose 19 Smokey Alison Pearson 19 The Line Drive Nicholas LaRosa 19 The Magic Park Annaliese Mills 19 The Lost Elephant Natalie Ehrenwerth 20 The Princess Who was Very Kind Makayla Xiao Daly 20 The Monster Kathryn Damato 21 The Failure Sara Rosenthal 21 A Horrible Discovery Rachel Bergstein 22 The Birds in My Backyard Katelyn Hadley 23 The Time Machine Allan Allag 25 A Fragrance of Life Olivia LaRosa 25 Fairytales Natalie Bielat 27 In Search of Home Pei Yi Zhuo 29 Giants of the Armageddon Ian Kamperschroer 30 The Terrible Truth Andrew P. Schwartz 31 Life Isn’t a Fairytale Zamantha Benvenuto 33 Before You Were Born Teresa Forlenzo ~ 3 ~ Middle School, Grades 6-8 Poetry 35 I am Like an Owl Sofia diTommaso 36 My Team is a Basket Savannah Herbeck 37 The Season of Colors Kaylee Schultz 37 Submerged Taylor Spadafora 38 Drowning in You Jalen Hunter 39 Gone Samantha Lotko 39 Time’s Frozen Place Hanna Carpino 41 Everything is Fine Rebecca Glass 42 Where I’m From Caitlyn Chapman Middle School, Grades 6-8 Prose 44 A Whole New World Katherine Blomstrann 45 The Mast Gianna Michaelson 46 Gone With the Wave Pritika Seshadri 47 Forever Thankful Annastasia Martineau 49 On the Edge Grant Sirlin 51 The Enchanted Melody Ly Dang 52 The Power of Words Emily Betterton 54 Bare Necessity Quinlan Harper 55 True Confessions of a Tortured Twin Lucy Tomasso High School, Grades 9-12 Poetry 57 Racing Weather Heather Schiller 58 My Ode to You Alexandra Grimaldi 59 Free Spirit, Free Soul Caitlin Culligan 61 Midnight Kristen Kompare 62 Evolution Allison Hawley 62 Once Upon a Time Hayley Kolding 63 It’s Not Okay Aminah Muhammad 66 Weather Map Sarah Munger 66 Sticks and Stones Logan A. LeDuc 67 Sparks Anna VanderLeest 68 Gone Lauren Kidd 69 Scars Melissa McCann High School, Grades 9-12 Prose 70 The Rain Danielle Osborne 72 False Identity Maggie Luongo 74 The Horrible Camp Jewell Overnight Caitlin Culligan 77 Shades of Gray Stephanie Diamond 78 Facehooked Audrey Morgan 79 The Journey That Is the Writer Saman Azimi 82 As We Grow Apart Caitlin Meuser 83 Cobalt Alyssa Holmes 85 An Unfinished Story Amy Tomasso ~ 4 ~ 86 Letter to a Younger Me Andrea Adomako 87 Hate Michael Lown 89 Finding Myself, Four Thousand Miles Away Robert Dei Dolori 91 Honorable Mentions 93 Teachers of Published Authors ~ 5 ~ Foreword More big fish have been caught with words than with hooks, lines, and sinkers. This year over 900 Connecticut students from grades kindergarten through twelve baited their hooks with captivating stories, poems, essays, and dramas and reeled in our selection committee. The result a big catch, 78 pieces guaranteed to hook readers. The Connecticut Writing Project is proud to present of these works in the 23rd volume of the Connecticut Student Writers magazine. The Connecticut Writing Project congratulates the young writers whose works are published in the 2011 Connecticut Student Writers magazine. We also thank their parents and teachers; their positive expectations foster a love of writing and give young writers the courage to unleash their creativity. Nadine Keane Editor in Chief Connecticut Student Writers magazine is approaching the quarter century mark, and once again our submissions have topped 900 pieces. Every year it is exciting and encouraging to see so many students submit their creative writing to Connecticut Student Writers. I know I speak for most teachers when I say that the current emphasis in the teaching profession on testing, data, and standardization has become overwhelming, and even discouraging. Too often we feel compelled to teach to the tests and thereby to kill the joy in so much of what we love. With so much emphasis on outcomes, quantification, and standardization, we lose sight of things like process, quality, and individuality. But in the pages of this magazine you will find ample evidence of teachers who are committed to finding and providing opportunities for their students to develop and express their individual voices and their creativity. In these pages there are no fill in the blanks, no bulleted lists of requirements, no percentiles, no rankings, no rubrics, and no standards. Instead, you will find compelling personal essays, entertaining fictional stories, and achingly beautiful poems. So we thank all the students who have written, but we also thank all the teachers who have rejected the notion that the best education emphasizes that which is common, standard, and quantifiable in our students, but who have instead taken the time and made the effort to encourage the creative, acknowledge the personal, and foster the unquantifiable in the children we teach. Jason Courtmanche Connecticut Writing Project Director ~ 6 ~ Assistant Editors Selection Committee Kelly Andrews-Babcock Kelly Andrews-Babcock Megan McNabney Laureen Anthony Laureen Anthony Alex Rode Cathy Holdridge Jane Cook Marcia Rudge Betsy Kowal Sherri Daley Alex Rode Cathy Holdridge Marcia Rudge Betsy Kowal ~ 7 ~ Elementary School, Grades K-5 Poetry Love Tractors Logan Bouley Annie E. Vinton Elementary School, Grade K Sounds like a brand new dirt bike. Looks like a go-cart I’m driving a motor-power, gas John Deere tractor! Affie Luke Jones Annie E. Vinton Elementary School, Grade K My dog Affie likes to lick the snow grey and new! Walking My Dog Outside Ava El-Hachem Annie E. Vinton Elementary School, Grade K My dog is sniffing the bushes, smelling leaves, wind, outside air Happy! The Sky Lang Lee Latimer Lane Elementary School, Grade 1 The sky Looks like A river In the air In the ~ 8 ~ Afternoon. When the sun sets It looks like A giant Pencil eraser And fire burning. At night It looks like The leftover Dark, damp coal And there are Leftover sparks From when The fire Was burning. Twinkle Star Twinkle Lauren Thompson Frank M. Kearns Primary School, Grade 1 Little stars turning into snow How beautiful! You taste mmm You feel cold You look sparkly I hear nothing Thank you for coming. Feelings Andrew Vlach Latimer Lane Elementary School, Grade 1 Happy, Sad, Angry, Frustrated, Worried, Scared, Excited, Calm, Proud. So many feelings in one day. ~ 9 ~ Paper Scared Charlie Panella West School, Grade 2 White Four Points Clear As a cloud Can Cut you And Bleed Wild Horses Kaitlyn Sill South School, Grade 2 Horses run into the barn ring, With saddles on their backs. Trotting hoofs, Pounding on the ground. Biting bits, Snoring, Tossing their heads in the air. Finger Prick Caroline Brooks West School, Grade 2 Pins and needles in My hands. “Get in the Car!” Mom yelled. Going to the Doctor’s. Signed in and Up the stairs. “Ouch,” I cried. Blue and white Poured the red Liquid Into a Cup. Down, ~ 10 ~ Down, Down. Into a little White dot. “Ouch,” I screamed. Again another One Waiting to Be Clicked. Green lollipops from the doctor. Signed out and DOWN The stairs, Into the Car, And Back Home. In Petersburg I Walked Boris Moscardelli Annie E. Vinton Elementary School, Grade 3 In Petersburg I walked into the playroom Mama and Papa were waiting for me I changed into my new clothes In Petersburg I walked back to my group I showed Mishka to Igor and my friends I said good-bye to Ludmilla In Petersburg I walked down the stairs I got in Yuri’s black car We drove away from Baby House Number 7 In Petersburg I walked into the hotel It had a big restaurant I slept in the bed In Petersburg I walked on the airplane The airplane took us to Massachusetts Mom and Dad took Mishka and me home ~ 11 ~ Blue Lavinia Kosher East Farms Elementary School, Grade 3 Blue is the color of summer skies, Blue is the color of blueberry pies, Blue is the shade of wild oceans, Blue is the color of rain. Blue is the smell of crisp winds, Blue is the scent of fresh spring bluebells, Blue is the aroma of blueberries. Blue is the feeling of wet salty tears, Blue is the texture of soft floating wings which lie on a small blue jay. Blue is the mood of cold rainy days, in which you peer inside a puddle, seeing your reflection very near. Blue is the smack of minty fresh chewing gum, in the process of making your mouth freeze, Blue is the feel of twilight breeze.