“Since 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s youth, and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated. Each year, increasing numbers of teens participate in the program, and become a part of our community—young artists and writers, filmmakers and photographers, poets and sculptors, video game artists and science fiction writers, along with countless educators who support and encourage the creative process.” -http://www.artandwriting.org/who-we-are/
This year three students from Hopedale Junior-Senior High School have been recognized in the Scholastic Art Competition. Brenna Ashby, a senior, received a Honorable Mention for her artwork, “A Clockwork Queen”, which is a portrait of her classmate Courtney Smith and was inspired by the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Brenna is planning on attending college to study Interactive Media.
Sydney Brake, a senior, received a Honorable Mention for her collage “Immunoglobulin”, which was inspired by the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. This was made with graphite pencil, cardboard, and acrylic paint.
Madeleine Poitras, an eighth grader, received a Silver Key Award for her poem “The Earth”. Last year she received a Gold Key for her poem “On the Night the World Caught Fire”.
The Water
By: Madeleine Poitras
The water, deep and clear.
A glass ribbon that stretches and turns over the riverbed.
Clean and everlasting,
Old and wise, while being
Young and fresh.
A mother to all, feeding and housing and cleansing the earth.
The water, deep and clear,
Is in danger.
They drink the water,
Respect the water,
Worship the water.
Now, they stand for the water.
The people and the water are one.
A bond that cannot be broken,
That must be defended.
We will stand,
With the people.
We will stand,
With the water.
For the water has fed,
Housed,
Cleansed us.
For the water has protected us.
For the water has loved us.
The Air
Breathe.
Inhale the once-crystalline air,
The air that you have poisoned.
Exhale with a cough,
For the factories that made what you’re wearing
Are destroying what you’re breathing.
We breathe.
We inhale our self-created poison,
We exhale with defeat,
For we are the epitome of self-destruction.
We buy with impulse.
We manufacture with ignorance.
We live in a cycle of constant self-destruction.
We poison the sky,
Without understanding that the air we are killing
Is the air we
Breathe.
The Land
The dirt, to us,
Is a mere placeholder,
To be shoveled away,
Replaced with wet cement.
The excess, to be put in bags that read,
“All Natural!” and “Organic!”
Then,
Sold.
The trees, in the eyes of the human,
Are stacks of paper waiting to be
Chopped down,
Burnt,
Dyed,
Destroyed, and
Sold.
The flowers, as far as we’re concerned,
Are meant to be photographed,
And promptly
Plucked,
Snipped,
Stomped on, and
Sold.
The mountains, a burden to bulldoze.
The animals, nothing more than meat and fur.
The land, nothing more than a blank canvas for our ever-growing industrialism.
The land belongs to no man,
But still, it is
Sold.
The Fire
It burns with beauty,
Heat,
And love.
It was never meant to destroy.
A fire in the thick, deep forest
Is nature’s way of clearing the dead,
Making room for the new.
A fire is not meant to be controlled.
It is not a weapon to be wielded.
We have abused the fire.
We have corrupted,
Exploited,
Manipulated the fire.
The sisters of the fire,
The trees,
The rivers,
The sky,
Are dying at the hands of the flame.
We have abused her power.
We have capitalized on her potential.
We have profited from her energy.
We have destroyed with her.
She is angry.