week20-08

WEEK 20
DUE WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6: 19. Pride. When did pride help you? Hurt you? Alternate: The last time. You could write about the last time you did something. Or write in reaction to this: “That is the last time I will ever….” Publication: March 11. Schedule of 2008 Prompts.

Week 20: General writing.
Click image on left to see or download the Rutland Herald page as a pdf.
Click for the Brattleboro Reformer or Times Argus versions.
This week's student writing: General writing
Details on this week's student art.
Index of past weeks' pages.

Student content published on Tuesdays in Brattleboro Reformer, Times Argus, Rutland Herald and The Valley News and Tuesdays and Thursdays in The Burlington Free Press.

This photo was taken by Errica Caposseo, Essex High School.

We are looking for great student art. For more click "PUBLISH" and "Submit Art" above. Get published!

Loaf of Bread

By Justinah Duhaime
Hartford High School, Grade 12

my fingertips
slowly stroke
the surface of your wavy slices

rising and falling amid stippled complexions of green and white
mold

each puffy cluster arrayed like starlight
echoing their brilliance down the crisp ocean of your crust

Fever

By Rebecca
Hartford Memorial Middle School, Grade 8

My mind slipping,
my fingers so frail,
scrapping,
crawling.

Breath cold on my chest,

Firefly Dance

By Adelicia Vander Els
Lake Champlain Waldorf High School, Grade 9

A lone firefly dances on an old man's grave,
And from the darkness another joins him.
Soon thousands of fireflies dance upon his old man bones,
Singing their fire dance song.

They spiral upwards,
Carrying his soul
Upon their spark-tipped wings.

The Summer I Will Never Forget

By Pearl Weggler
Northfield Middle School, Grade 7

Stella

“Stella! Watch where you’re stepping!” Lacey yelled at me from behind. I looked down. I had just stepped an inch away from a beautiful sea shell. I looked up.

By Abi Foster
Hazen Union School, Grade 10

My daughter Jacki, her 2 kids, and my son Ben are visiting me at the nursing home today. Every week we go and see their mothers’ grave site and leave flowers. We’ve been doing this since she died two years ago. She died when she was 76 and I was 87. I can hear them coming down the hall, so I quickly make my bed. Well, as quickly as an old man like me can. When Jacki walks into the room, she puts her arms around me in a hug and kisses me wrinkly cheek.

Savior

By Miranda Shepard
Rochester High School, Grade 9

I’ve found you, wayward child,
Let me take you in,
I want to help you to forget your past,
This is where your new life will begin.

You will no longer need to whisper,
Neither shall you frown,
If others choose to pick on you,
Don’t let them bring you down.

Forget slouching when embarrassed,
Always stand with pride,
Never be ashamed of what you must say,
Speak what you feel inside.

Don’t be so negative; little one,
You can make dreams come true,
All you need to do; my darling,
Is put your fears behind you.

Wayward child, you look oh so very lost,
Starting now forget of all strife,
Yesterday is over, my darling,
Today; you will begin your new life.

Drawing

By Nikki Duquette
Crossett Brook Middle School, Grade 8

Drawing is the one thing that lets your
Imagination wander.
You could be a dancer leaping and
Skipping your way across the dance floor.
Drawing is the one thing that lets you
Be the one thing you have always
dreamed of being:
An artist making new
Famous paintings.
Drawing is the thing that lets you

The Glover pt. 1

By Emily Kulig
Rutland High School, Grade 10

He sits in his shop all day long. Plucking each hair off the skin of a goat, and returning them, properly, to an expensive looking shall. His beard is scruffy, white, and he has minimal hair on his head. The clothes that he wears are never polished, never as fine as the materials he fixes-at least that’s what I can see from outside.

Young men continuously pelt his window with rotten eggs and snowballs. Their hands are covered with a cheap, manufactured material. His own kind betraying him. As soon as they’re gone, he picks up his glasses and heads outside to start wiping the streaks off, always clockwise.

Grades
By Anna Franceschetti
Charlotte Central School- 6th grade
Teacher: Mrs. Raabe
Prompt: General, Deadline Jan. 9, 2008
Publication Date: Feb. 5, 2008

Free

By Hannah Reynolds
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 8

no bridle
no reins
no saddle
nothing but me and you
trusting each other
cause if we dont i will fall
i have to go with the motion
through the snow as fast as you please
like my rocking horse when i was little
only you are real
and you are mine
and we are free

Ryan Sheckler

By Brianna Snow
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 8

Morning Dew

By Elizabeth Merritt
Champlain Valley Union High School, Grade 11

she sat there,
woozy,
like someone had pulled the plug in her feet
and drained her out.

she watched the river,
lazy ripples that once in a while
broke along the surface.

still as a fence post,
just the rain-cleaned wood
and the rising light.

playing the cello like something had died,
as if the music had rushed into her pores.

a perfect hum,
high-pitched and swollen.

her stories still pulled soft around our shoulders.
now and then,
they came back from a place they had never been.

she wanted to know what happened when
two people felt it-
heat would make a person do strange things.

Happiness

By Sally Tucker
Hartford High School, Grade 9

Happiness.
It's being full without eating anything
It's wanting to scream with a sore throat
It's having energy to dance, sing, love
When you should be sleeping, crying, dying

Happiness.
It's not knowing what you want, but knowing it's out there
It's feeling beautiful, without seeing your reflexion in the mirror
It's having enough and more to share, teach, give
It's seeing that all you want is to stay like this forever

Happiness.
It's standing at the foot of the ocean
It's holding someone tight beside you
It's knowing how good life is and how much you'd loose without it
It's praying, leaping, crying, needing, loving

That feeling you get when you fill with energy or hope
That thing that makes you smile, laugh, sing
That passion and everlasting giddiness, that love
That part of your day you live for, the beauty
That's it.
Happiness.

Love Subsiding

By Hanna Kingston
Mount Mansfield Union High School, Grade 9

Imprisons joy in a box with tinted windows
Consolation offers happiness and satisfaction
Words rich in thin gold wash
But a craved breeze is never remedy for flying

World flooded in the lonely man’s crying
Shores washed in salty despair
Softest feet lay prey to shard of glass

The Box

By Allison Getz
Oxbow High School, Grade 10

The box is where I keep my heart
The box is where my heart must stay
The box is where no one will find it and throw it all away

The box is where I keep my secrets
The box is where I store my stuff
The box is where I dream so quietly when everything is rough

The box is where my thoughts are hiding

Ode to Hugs

By Sierra Hutt
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

This an ode
to loving hugs
keeping us going,
letting us know,
silently speaking,
that we are loved
Hugs are warm and engulfing
a simple way to say
“I love you”
Thoughts go missing
for those few moments
when an embracing hug
is on your mind
Just like a crackling fire
warming up cold hands

Is it worth it?

By Sarah Porch
Rutland Middle School, Grade 8

Dear daddy…

I miss you…

I love you…

Come home!

It all started in 2001

When two planes turned our world upside down

Fathers and mothers and children and friends

The ones we held close had to leave

Supposedly to fight for our “freedom” or something

But I know I would trade

Any day

I’d give my freedom away

For all those we knew

And even those we didn’t

They gave their lives away

For what?

Is this the answer?

So many tears shed

So many lives lost

The fear and torture

It ruined their lives

Everything they had to miss

How will peace come from fighting and violence?

These men and women became killers

Slanderers

We fear for their lives each precious day that passes

For we know one day that the news will come

This poor boy that wrote to his dad

A man who was worthy of praise

He found out soon that his daddy had died……………

For his country?

For his freedom?

For us?

Was it worth it?

Pearls and Roses

By Kayla Wood
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 7

Two of the most valuable gifts I have ever gotten were a red rose and a pearl necklace. The red rose was recently given to me, but sadly it is starting to wilt, and the pearl necklace is hiding in the depths of my attic, but I will always remember that at one time, I was given these two precious items.

Real Life

By Samantha Rose Newell
Brattleboro Union High School, Grade 10

Now that I think about it,
Everything is real,
From the things you do,
To the things you feel,

Everything you touch,
All the tears you shed,
All the fury in your heart,
Is there until you're dead,

So don’t show your wrath,
Don’t show your fear,
Don’t bother with your enemies,
Just the ones you hold near,

Tears show your weakness,
But don’t conceal your pain,
For bottling up feelings,
Can drive someone insane.

Happiness

By Sally Tucker
Hartford High School, Grade 9

Happiness.
It's being full without eating anything
It's wanting to scream with a soar throat
It's having energy to dance, sing, love
When you should be sleeping, crying, dying

Happiness.
It's not knowing what you want, but knowing it's out there
It's feeling beautiful, without seeing your reflexion in the mirror

We Are

Erin Maguire
Essex High School, Grade 9

We are;
A constellation of universes melded into
Reason for a
Split second
Of calm.

Ode to My Puppy

By Helena Rainville
St. Joseph School, Grade 6

I got my puppy on Friday--
a little fur-ball on a leash.
He loves to run and whine and play.
Got that? Capeesh?

He is the color of cream,
and his nose is black as night.
He loves to sleep and dream,
he sometimes explores and bites.

His name is Willoughby
And his fur is curly and cute.
He loves me and I love him;

Sometimes When I Speak

By Miranda Scott
Montpelier High School, Grade 9

Sometimes when I speak
No one listens
Sometimes when I cry
No one hears
Sometimes when I lie
No one pays attention
Sometimes when I crawl
into myself
No one cares

Perfect Love

By Vanessa Mongeur
Rochester High School, Grade 11

Smile on my face.
Twinkle in my eyes.
Heart skipping beats.
Stomach full of butterflies.
Everyone disappears,
Only you and him.
Floating on a cloud,
Never wanting to come down.
Stay this way forever,
Take advantage of him never.
Always going to be
Just you and me.
You are my perfect love,
Forever you will be.

Redheads

By Lauren Goldsborough
Champlain Valley Union High School, Grade 9

I have screamed
the anger
and stress
away

and it probably
damaged
your ear
drums.

Forgive me
I'm a red head.
we can get angry.

Inner Tempest

By Melissa Soule
Leland and Gray High School, Grade 9

It whirls within me,
A self-willed beast, devouring my entrails,
Yet I have no wish to stop the pain.
No. I am an indulging and incapable parent to a spoiled child, too fond of their sweets.
Instead of rebelling against this wild animal inside me, I urge it on.
I am the conductor of my own destruction.

The Powdery Mountain

By Maria Leech
Albert D. Lawton Middle School

My bindings-click
"You ready?"
We ride.
Higher, higher
Midstation ahead,
Please Keep tips up!
Mom hops.

Where was I?

Higher, higher
I scooch to the side,
and cling
like a baby to its rattle,
I hold on,
tight.

My goggles fog up,
a hot tear
rolls down my reddened cheek.
A know in the cable

Ant Ambush

By Ian Gramling
Ferrisburgh Central School, Grade 3

In my back yard
I decide to look
At ants: my favorite
Insect. Lift up a step,
Oooouuuuuuuuuch!!
Ants: workers, soldiers
Pouring out. I see one on
My arm. It bites and fills
The bite wound with stinging
Acid. I brush all those
Formica ants off my arms
And legs. I put the step
Back in its place.