HONOLULU - Seabury Hall, Carden Academy of Maui and Clearview Christian Girls School students were among the 60-plus winners from public and private schools statewide in the ninth annual Star Poets Celebration.
Five students from Seabury, who swept the 6th-grade division, and four students from Carden were among the top five students for each grade division in a field of 3,500 entries. A Clearview student won a grade division in the new Poems for Peace contest, and another Carden student took home an honorable mention.
The winning students and their teachers have been invited to a public poetry reading May 31 at Windward Community College's Paliku Theatre. Kealoha, the founder of HawaiiSlam, will emcee and perform some of his work.
Contest organizers will hand out Awards and prizes for the contest, sponsored by Windward Community College and Starbucks Coffee. Winners will receive a $50 cash prize, with honorable mentions receiving $10 each. Each school also will receive a cash prize.
At the event, winners of the inaugural Poems for Peace contest will read their poems encouraging world peace and receive a $50 cash prize. The State Peer Mediation Conference sponsors this Poems for Peace segment of the celebration.
Poems from students in 3rd to 12th grades will be published in the Star Poets Journal, which will be available in selected Starbucks stores. They also may be read on the Windward Community College Web site at windward. hawaii.edu/poets.
Maui winners follow:
* Third grade - Wyatt DeShong, Carden, "Ninja."
* Fourth grade - Bailey Anderson, Carden, "Little Things."
* Fifth grade - Cloe Cadiz, Carden, "Birds"; Ben Pells, Carden, "Just Me"; honorable mention: Casey Rehrer, Carden, "Wide Open Beach."
* Sixth grade - River Randle, "The Potion"; Anna Ezzy, "Defying Gravity"; Savanah Janssen, "Conquering the Baby Gate"; Sophie M. Janssen, "Wet Black Paint"; Rika Tamakawa, "Rising" - all from Seabury.
* Eighth grade - Shakeena Powers, Carden, "A Picture."
* Poems for Peace, 7th-9th grade division - Samantha Atkinson, Clearview, "The Little Doll."
According to school officials, all of the Seabury and three of the Carden winners plan to attend the awards assembly. The Clearview winner still hasn't decided.
The Seabury sweep in the 6th-grade category reminded teacher Gayle Martelles of the first time she entered her students in the contest seven years ago. That group of students, who are now seniors, swept the 6th-grade category as well. They include Seabury seniors Logan Anderson, Zoe Kleiman-Tapley, James Matsui and Alecia Tumpap.
"We're thrilled with how the project has grown over the years," said Libby Young, a Windward Community College journalism and English professor. "Teachers tell us how grateful they are to have an outlet for student writing.
"Poetry encourages students to be creative, and give voice to their thoughts and feelings."
She noted that this may be the last year of sponsorship by Starbucks and hopes to find new sponsors to continue the contest.
A 36-page Hawaii Poetry Resource Guide has been published with a Starbucks Foundation grant to provide classroom ideas for teachers. It can be downloaded from the Windward Community College Web site at www.windward.hawaii.edu.
For more information, contact Young at (808) 235-7396 or e-mail libby@hawaii.edu.
