Brooks Students Excel in Statewide Poetry Contest

Nearly 20 eighth grade students from Brooks Middle School have won a juried poetry contest hosted by Creative Communication. The students entries will be published in a hardcover anthology of poems from across the state that will be released this summer. The following is an excerpt from a letter the school received announcing the winners.

"The fact that you have numerous students accepted makes a strong statement about your school. Less than 50% of the poems submitted are selected to be published. The list of your students that have been accepted to be published represents a lot of talent, hard work, and dedication from your teachers and students. In judging thousands of poems, our judges have found that the single most important factor in creating a quality poem is the quality of the instruction. We have found that schools with excellent language arts programs have a much higher percentage of their students' writing accepted. With excellent teachers, come excellent writers and sometimes over 50% of a class is accepted. Your school stands out and will be recognized in the anthology as receiving a 'Poetic Achievement Award.' This honor is given to the top 10% of the schools who entered the contest. The schools are chosen based on the number and quality of the entries accepted."

Below are the names of the students whose poems were selected.

Gabrielle Angeles
Mary Blankemeier
Max Boughton
Alexis Chandler
Archie Dellamaria
Ishana Euring
Grace Fox
Taylor Griffin
Annabel Huber
Grace Irving
Maya King
Tania Moore
Taylor Oettel
Grant Reynolds
Nur Sachleben
Sincere Santiago
Lila Wine
Ethan Young