This is the ninth year former Big Sandy High School graduate Ellaraine Lockie has provided the English students at BSHS the opportunity to participate in the Walter Gerson Poetry Contest.
Each year Ellaraine Lockie judges students’ poetry, makes comments about the poems and awards students for their excellent poetry and participation. This year is no exception. There are several cash prizes and several honorable mentions.
Two teachers at Big Sandy high school have been involved in the poetry contest. Lauren Clampitt handled the Gerson poems for the first six years they were in existence. This is Kimberly Perry’s first year at handling the Big Sandy part of the contest.
Each year the students in grades 8 through 12 compose a poem. They are all mailed to Ellaraine Lockie in California. Lockie, a published poet whose poems appear monthly in “The Mountaineer”, makes her only requirement for the poems is that they be in free verse. She judges all of the poems, decides on three money winners and several honorable mentions and then mails them back. She funds the prizes each year from her own pocket. This is a very special cause for Lockie and so appreciated by the rest of us. The Big Sandy school has appreciated Lockie’s willingness to allow the contest each year.
Once again “The Mountaineer” will print all of the poems. Thanks to Big Sandy students, Ellaraine Lockie and Kimberly Perry for making our pages better!
Teacher’s Choice winner is “Isn’t it Amazing” by Noelle Beirwagen.
Isn’t it Amazing
By Noelle Beirwagen
Do you ever think just how amazing it is
That there is a world above
There is a world in the great abyss
And a world underneath us in between our toes
Isn’t it amazing that there are creatures that can fly
Don’t you think it’s amazing that there are creatures that breathe under water
Aren’t the colors amazing
The ones that light up the sky
The ones on the flowers that you see in summer
Now as I say that
Isn’t it amazing that there is time for every occasion
There is a great occasion for white fluffy snow
A great occasion for all to grow
A great occasion for perfect weather and things to turn orange
A great occasion for things get warm and beautiful
Isn’t it a miracle that we can breath
Isn’t it a miracle every second that your heart beats
Isn’t it amazing that you can walk town the road
Isn’t it all such a blessing that we get this one chance
To understand the beauty
But the only setback is
There is one curse that has been bestowed
