From left: Center for Teaching and Learning students Arlo Aeppli, Finley Barnes-Vieten, Meghan Arnold, and Estella Wigg celebrate being selected as finalists in Sarah Mook Poetry Contest. (Photo courtesy Center for Teaching and Learning)
Five young poets from the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb placed in the Sarah Mook Poetry Contest.
This year, over 900 entries came from 29 states and also from South Korea, Nepal, China, and India. Winning poems came from seven different states and from China, and five of those winners were from CTL.
In the kindergarten division, Finley Barnes-Vieten placed second for her poem, “Leaves of Fall,” and Arlo Aeppli placed third for his poem, “Then and Now.” The division’s awards were sponsored and judged by Mook’s kindergarten teacher, Olwen Jarvis. Award letters include her comments on each winning poem, a check to be used for the purchase of books for each of the winning poets’ school libraries, and book plates that acknowledge each poet’s achievement.
In addition to kindergarten winners, Estella Wigg took third place for her poem, “Sitting on the Dock,” in the grades 3-5 division. In the grades 6-8 division, Josephine Shea placed second for “An Abecedarian for Dad,” and Meghan Arnold placed third for her poem, “You and I.”
All winners in these divisions will receive cash prizes and international recognition through publication at sarahmookpoetrycontest.com.
The contest was created in memory of Mook, a Pennsylvania student and young poet who suddenly passed away while in third grade in 1995. Her family created the contest to honor her memory and to inspire and encourage young poets. For more information, go to sarahmookpoetrycontest.com.
