Walt whitman birthplace association poetry contest
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Birch Pages Writing Club places first in prestigious poetry competition
By namn D'Alessandro
The Birch Pages Writing Club has been judged among the year’s best poets on Long Island, winning a first-place award in the annual student poetry contest hosted by the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. The club was honored at the Whitman museum in Huntington Station on May 5.
Eight fourth-grade students in the Birch Pages club, from the Merrick Union Free School District’s Birch School, were selected as the winners in one category of the competition from a pool of over 4,000 submissions. The writing club was created by Birch teacher Crystal Lopez earlier this school year, for students in lower grades.
The ceremony took place at the Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum, the historic home of Long Island author and poet Walt Whitman, who is known for his renowned works, such as “Leaves of Grass,” and is considered one of the most influential American poets.
The poetr
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WWBA seeks submissions for 35th annual student poetry contest
The Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site in Huntington Station is now accepting submissions for its 35th annual Student Poetry Contest!
CONTEST THEME: Lessons Learned
The theme derives from Walt Whitmans poem below. Please also read the poem, “History Lesson,” written by Natasha Tretheway.
ELIGIBILITY: Students in grades 3 to 12 from anywhere around the world. Poems submitted in languages other than English must be accompanied bygd an English translation.
CONTEST: Write a free verse poem about a lektion you have learned
‘STRONGER LESSONS’
Have you learn’d lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you?Have you not learn’d the great lessons of those who reject you, and brace themselves against you? or who treat you with contempt, or dispute the passage with you?
– Walt Whitman, “Leaves of Grass” (1881-1882)
Entries Must Be Received By Friday, Mar
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Ninth Grade Student is Grand Champion in Walt Whitman Poetry Contest
Ninth grade student Lyla B. has been selected as Grand Champion (in Category D—Grades 9-10) in the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association’s 35th Annual Student Poetry Contest for her poem, “Braving Hurricanes.” Lyla’s poem will be read at the awards ceremony on June 13th. Congrats Lyla!
Braving Hurricanes
Lessons learned are like the sky
After a storm of fierce rain and flaming lightning
You must persevere the unbearable
Before everything becomes a little clearer.
Even when the dead of night is silent as a doe
And when the kids laugh in time
With the beat of their angst
And you cry crocodile tears
She comes to you with open arms
Nothing greater than a mother’s love
And though the wrinkles in his face
Obscure the once almost barely green of his eyes
His mourning-dove lectures
And the taste of bone broth will never wash out
On the mountainside, the wrinkles instead resemble
Somethin