Woodstock Union High School

At the end of fourth grade, my parents made a decision that changed my life forever; they enrolled me in summer theatre. I won the part of rainbow and porcupine and had a great time learning about the craft of theatre and meeting some nice people. Ever since, I have been heavily involved. I have been featured in roles such as an orphan in Annie, an owl in Pinocchio, spring in King Arthur’s Christmas and many more wonderful and intellectually challenging roles. Theatre gives me a chance to think about the problems of the world(s) in any given play and develop my mind more by listening to my peers and having creative discussions. Theatre was the best discovery that was made.

Gymnastics

Jump
Fly leap flip
Bars beam
Floor vault
Tumble swing
Run spin
Twirl
Twist
Perfect
10.00 Gymnastics
Kip Run
Punch roll
Giant lunge
Tricks cartwheel
Dismount

Horses in the Meadow

By Olivia Powell
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

My speckled dog trots up ahead
Her tail twitching back and forth
Clueless as she sniffs deer tracks to what this walk is worth.
The sunshine sifts between the leaves
Dangling off the limbs
That weave to form a canopy, making the sunlight dim.
I wander in between white trees
Quick feet on the moss
And when I reach the ancient wall we both jump swiftly across.
Chickadees twitter, dry twigs snap, I sense a cool breeze on my face
And then I notice with startled eyes, before me is a fence!
My pace gets faster, she swiftly looks up
And what soon comes in view
Is a green, glorious, and glistening meadow, sparkling with morning dew.
She pokes her furry brown head through the fence,
I turn my head to look below
And there, sleek and stunning, I see two horses in the meadow.
A symphony of feelings arises in me
When I comprehend what I’ve seen

“Crunch, crunch, crunch, snap! Crunch, crunch, crunch, snap” “Hey, Abby, Meg! Come look at what I found!” My brother’s excited voice rang out through the clear forest air, breaking the monotonous sound of crinkling leaves and snapping twigs. Adrenaline pulsing through our veins, we looked up, half expecting Will to emerge from the thicket with some kind of wild animal. Instead a different sight met our eyes.
“Look at this place,” I breathed astonished.
“Isn’t it great!” Will piped up.
“What a dump!” Meg said.
Indeed her words rang true. We were staring at three acres of beautiful wooded forest and part of a stream littered with stoves, ancient bottles, pipes, pots, refrigerators, even a couple of demolished Mercedes.
“It’s a gold mine!”
“We’ve hit the jackpot!” Will said theatrically.

In A Round

Pacing footsteps in a pattern,
Tied to an axis in chains of consent
Spreading…
Right turns into left
Up turns to down,
And yet shifted in composition
Its path stays fixed
It is a secret pacing through a sea of people
But bound to its source
Its path is traced, over and over…
In a round
The original source is lost
In the insanity of infinity

The Day I Discovered how to Ride a Bike without Training Wheels

I live in a small town called Killington, where there aren’t many people but there are many places. Like the ski area for instance over 90 trails and yet there are places that are undiscovered, untouched. I love to go to the mountain and snowboard for hours and hours. Sometimes I go with friends, but sometimes I go alone. I like to go alone it gives me a chance to just take it all in and really snowboard. One time I was by myself and I was going down a pretty crowded trail, some people like me were more experienced and desperately trying to get around the inexperienced tourists, who shouldn’t be on this trail in the first place. As I went to make my move around a woman who looked like she would fall at any moment, she did fall right as I about to pass her. She pushed me with her ski, sending me down in through the woods. I carved my way around the trees and rocks until I could find a good spot to stop myself.

True and reasonable advice
To be sure.

But how comforting
One day instead to hear,
"It's a normal human thing.
Real change takes time
As well as effort."

Two points of view:
Your feelings for me,
My feelings for you.

Sea Lion

By Morgan Hill
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

As usual
I search for sea glass
On this
Beach
As usual
I let my tangled hair
Flow
Free
As usual
I wear no shoes
Or socks
And why would I

As usual
The birds softly
Scream
As usual
My sea glass it
Gleams
But today I found
Not just sea glass
But
You
I wonder why today
You are here
I wonder why
You came so close
So close
I could almost
Touch your nose
I stare
For a while
But you swim away
I wonder why
You came here today
I would follow you
But why should I

The days of Rice Krispies and British guys
And squirt gun wars and fireflies
Losing the world cup and rolling our eyes
I first found you there.

The summer which served as a golden string
Between before and now and everything
Our laughter in my ears still rings
In the nostalgic air.

The world seemed smaller then
But somehow we took it on.
So glad I found you.
So glad I kept you.
Though that summer is long gone.

If I could have a super power it would be to have the ability to fly. I would want to fly because I could see the world from a whole new perspective. I would be able to see things that other people couldn't see, and that would be why this ability is so special. I could soar above the clouds and spend time with the birds. I could get any where I wanted to go in a hurry. Not to mention the fuel economy. In being able to fly you could be your own person. You could just be alone with nothing but the air rushing past your head. You could spend hours upon hours exploring new places or revisiting old ones with a new sense of wounder. In being able to fly you have endless possibilities and restrictions. If I could fly the I would be truly free.

The leaves are starting to change their color all around
Many of them end up piled on the ground

The sky is gray and the air is becoming cold
It begins the story that the next seasons will come hold

The days are shorter now and summer is done
But the echo is still ringing of past summer fun

The future is icy and full of snow
Now fall is the season that is soon to go

The closed glass case protects the artifacts of a powerful ancient civilization, Egypt. Though the artifacts are within the ancient Egyptian section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they are not recognizable for their placement within a small room among larger galleries. The room is filled with small and unimportant objects to the average eye: beads, small broken artwork from the Armana period, and pieces of linen, along with papyrus wreaths and shoes. As I stumble upon this room with my costume history sketchbook, my eyes are caught by the papyrus wreaths that remain intact, especially since they relate to the history of fashion in ancient Egypt. Before documenting these funeral wreaths with my camera, I quickly read the description that goes along with them. The wreaths and the belongings on the wall related to King Tutankhamen, one of the most famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

Fell the rosewood ashes
Pick us up, where we lie
The world is heavy on our shoulders
Until the day we die

Fell the comrades quietly
Into deep brown Earth
Resting there
Until the time of rebirth

Fell the melody of our tears
The poison seeping into our blood
Killing us softly
Your lies staining us with mud

Fell the memories of heaven
Our life has turned to the dark abyss
Quiet cries resort to desperate lies
Our world has gone amiss

Fell the Hand of Sorrow
Save our selves from this place
Take it a little easy on us now
Create a better tomorrow
For we have fell the Hand of Sorrow