Gaby Diaz
"The hallways of the struggling ship creaked and groaned as the hull crumpled against the weight of the sea.
The sonar operator yelled, 'I hear splashes! Probably depth charges!'
'Brace for impact, gentlemen, we’re in for a heck of a ride.'”
From Nate Rosen's story
"The Amur leopard is a critically endangered species, and it is also the rarest big cat/genus Panthera in the world... They ... generally weigh 70-105 lbs. This sounds like a lot, and it is for a leopard, but compared to its neighboring species, the Siberian tiger, which can weigh up to 700 lbs, it's like comparing The Rock to a baby.
From Amelia Ragazzo
"Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life’s no shining elevator,
It has stops,
And some ups,
And also some downs,
It has places with shaggy carpets,
Places with none,
Bare."
From Jonah Latzman's Father to Son
"Imagine living in the world, 2000 years ago. You do not have a lot of resources, but you have chocolate as sweet as Michelle Obama?!
The history of chocolate goes back many, many years. It all started with the ancient Mayans, and a little bit earlier in time, with the ancient Olmecs of Southern Mexico."
From Thalia Estus' "History of Chocolate"
Rotary Winner 2022
The Flood
When the water rushed in,
You could say we were luckier than some.
Everyone was talking.
Stores were ruined.
Cars were swept away.
When the water rushed in,
School was delayed.
I had a few extra days of summer,
But none of it was fun.
None at all.
When the water rushed in,
People who were not harmed,
Got supplies to help those who
Really weren’t so lucky.
Communities united to help.
When the water rushed in,
They gave me rubber gloves.
I helped those in need.
Many people stopped their vacation time,
To give to those in need.
When the water rushed in,
Another flood was there
A flood of tears
A flood of people surrounded
By shattered walls, houses, memories.
When the water rushed in,
Even after weeks,
Some still had destroyed homes,
Shelters were set up,
For people who couldn’t live in their homes.
When the water rushed in,
Times were tough.
It was all dark, like an inky black sky,
But we have so many heroes,
That led us into light.
Eiley Vasquez
Artist: Natalija Ivetic
"At the third surgery, I had to get a medal rod in my arm! Listen, what I'm trying to say is that, basically, I have dealt with the cycle of PAIN and that I felt lonely and mostly felt the PRESSURE of being really alone. I'm trying to say that if I felt that, you could feel that and push right through it."
From Mariana Monsalve's "The Pressure of Being Alone"
"If you’ve ever wished the sky was a different color, that's not going to happen — unless you are in an unknown galaxy.
To understand what gives the sky its blue tone, you will need to know what wavelengths are. Wavelengths are simply what the colors are made of."
From Elisabeth Louw
"She started to glow like crazy like a dark light soo dark that I had to cover my eyes before I was blinded and, after that, I was out cold. I had a bad dream that I was a caveman trying to hunt a rabbit. I didn't want to kill it so I just let it go."
From Adem Huseynov's Arthur Maxwell
Artist: Evelyn Young
"She had a distant dream, which was to stowaway on a ship, which could sail her to parts unknown. She followed her instinct, which was now pulling at her fur like a rope."
From Adja Toure's Robin's Summer
Artist: Lucy Berger
"Twweeeeet......
First period’s over. My coach is yelling at me from the sidelines and our team is down.
'Guys, get back in the game! We're losing and this is our rival!' my coach exclaimed. 'Come on, guys, we got this! ‘Tigers!’ on three!'”
From Holden Baucom's hockey memoir
The Power Of Love
A Mother, a daughter, a son, and a photo
Hardships of time of 1936
There was no food
A mother picking peas
To put food on the table
Doing it for
Her children
Doing it for love
Love is power
Driving everyone through time
Love is the one thing in your body that doesn’t run out
The only fighting spirit
Keeping you alive
The photo has a meaning
A meaning of love
Jack Dlugacz
Artist: Kaelyn Carr
"Why today of all days? Couldn’t I finish my thirty page long science homework tomorrow? Or any other day? I mean, sir, it was meant to be finished two weeks ago, but was it really my fault that science is boring so I just stay in the bathroom instead of attending class? I sigh again. My friends are probably playing soccer with each other and their dogs. The thought of woofball make me smile."
From Katerina Stoichkov's Maxim's Story
"As an AHL goalie, one step from the majors - a dream - but, for me, only an anxiety filled thought, crowded everything else out: Will I die? Will I make a fool of myself? I started spiraling but was stopped by none other than the brick wall: Tristan Jarry himself."
Read more from Adam Herzberg's Call Up
Jack Ilardo
Middle School Mix
Middle school is suffocating
A strict mold you have to follow
Drowning in a sea of people
No space for anything
But everyone’s unique
Kids only see the outside
Not the vivid colors
Or buds of imagination
Or sparks of dreams
Inside every one of us.
Everyone’s unique.
Lucy Girling
Artist: Sadie Bilik
"Do you think our lunch period should be longer than forty-five minutes? Do you want to have a bunch of courses for a school lunch? Then all you have to do is fly to a different country: France!"
From Maya Schein's "School Lunch in France"
Aurelia Apfalter
"I decide to sleep on it. I roll out of bed on Friday morning and the first thing I notice is that all of my posters are gone. Everything is different. My room seems… younger. My head spins for a good twenty minutes - I really am going back in time!"
From Felix Feinbloom's "Back in Time"
"My sister had to use the restroom, so while she was gone, I tasted the batter. I did not realize that it wasn't supposed to taste good, and I decided to adjust it. Grabbing the sugar, I dumped nearly half of the contents in."
Read the rest of Sophie Lassander "(Happy) Accidents'" piece
Kimberly Aguilar
"Imagine you are hiding in a closet or a pantry; you are huddled up in a corner, warm and cozy. There are blankets draped over you, and food everywhere. You could be playing Hide and Seek. The only difference is there is no seeker; in their place… in their place is a crisis that could end the world."
From Terry Haden's story about Y2K
Rotary Winner 2022
Environmental Warrior
Outside rain poured down.
Imprisoned in the classroom,
class 3-C was bored.
“Today we’re going to watch
a video,” Ms. C said.
She turned toward the board.
Two white creatures faded in.
Were they polar bears?
“The Arctic” appeared on the
screen. Invisible hands slapped
me across the face.
I was blinded by anger
and sudden sadness.
This couldn’t be the Arctic.
Where there was the snow and ice?
The video said
it was in fact the Arctic,
and the footage was
recent. But how could it be?
And why were those polar bears
suffering like that?
I did not hear the rest of
the video. I
couldn’t. My body had
shut down and my brain had turned
to a whirlpool.
I sucked the images down.
I couldn’t process
them. The rest of the class moved
on with their day. I did not.
I stared hypnotized
at the spot on the screen where
the bears had been.
It was like my class was blind.
Was I the only one who
Saw through it all?
How did they not have a voice
Yelling, “DO SOMETHING!”
and a tugging in their hearts?
For the rest of the day, Ms.
C’s voice was on mute.
I did not raise my hand, and
I didn’t function.
How could my class just move on?
There was a problem that had
to be solved. And right
away. This could not just go.
And if nobody
in my class would,
I swore that day
I would.
Art Show 2022
"Located in Quebec, Canada, lies the frozen hotel. This hotel is $1,600 per night and is an interesting- and cold - experience. Welcome to Hotel de Glance."
From Siena Best's "Ice Hotel - A Visitor's Experience"
"Imagine this: You are rushing through the rain, trying to get to your train ride after being rudely denied a spot in an empty taxi. You make it to the train station then show the conductor your ticket that is in perfect condition and enter the train. Suddenly, you are halted on your way inward, “What are you doing? Your ticket is clearly fake.” You get pushed out of the train despite the fact that your ticket is legitimate and you purchased it a moment ago."
From Gabriel Mercado
Imitation of Shel Silverstein’s "Sick”
I cannot take the test today,
I say.
My arm is broken.
My head hurts so bad
That I cannot think.
My eyes are all red,
I think I have pink eye.
I’m coughing so much
I think I have the flu.
My feet hurt so much. my toes might fall off.
Wait, it's only six easy questions?
Bye! Imma ace it!
Matthew Lin
Artist: Mika Torres
Summer
imitation of Walter Dean Myers' poem "Summer"
I like the chill days, chill days,
Sweaters what you’re wearing days,
Leaves leaving from tree to ground,
Pumpkins rotting,
Blotting and clotting,
Drinking pumpkin spice days.
Squirrels leaping
Chipmunks peeping
Slow days, low days
Beaming and dreaming
Of hot, hot lattes
Sweaters what you got days.
Ele Esposito
Artist: Lila Turnamian
Spring
I like cool days, cool days
Wind is what's cruel days
Hair blowing from every breeze
Flowers blooming
Anywhere and everywhere
Birds chirping
Lawn mowers mowing
Flowers blooming, cars zooming
Bees buzzing and fussing
Of cool, cool days
Wind is what's cruel days.
Read more of Eva Schaller's imitations
Jonah Hertzberg
Nature Nourishes
It soothes.
It smooths.
The line between real and fake.
It flies and lands,
And runs away from us.
It speaks a lovely language,
And slowly it forms the future’s fate.
Still bright as the moon and dark as the night sky.
More beautiful as years go by.
Anuli McPherson
Artist: Nate Rosen
The Tears Behind Our Masks
Happy, glowing, and beautiful but
The tears behind the mask?
Cheerful at school but
The tears behind her mask?
Trying to live the life when going outside but
The tears behind his mask?
Being a person that you don't recognize but
The tears behind his mask?
Are the tears we have to show
Because the tears behind are mask can be
A curtain behind everyone’s mask?
Mia Ormrod
Nicolas Fukuda-Bystritski
Most ghost hunters believe that phantoms can use gadgets to “talk” to humans. One kind of tool that ghost hunters use is called an EMF, or an electromagnetic field detector. EMF’s find patterns in electromagnetic radiation, which is virtually everywhere and comes from tablets, cell phones, etc. If the device flashes, ghost hunters believe a ghost could be present in the room. Scientists disagree with this. They say that cell phones nearby could have been causing this response, or maybe wiring, but definitely not a spirit.
Another tool that ghost hunters use for finding ghosts is a “spirit box”, which is actually a radio scanner.
From Aditi Nautiyal's "The True Story of Ghosts"
Artist: Peri Froehlich
All Summer In a Day - Alternative Endings
"As they climb, they look at the trees and the majestic wildlife on Venus. Once they get to the top it is magical. They can see the entire planet here."
Read more from Elijah Jaber's ending
"Margot’s classmates wanted to apologize to her so badly for locking her in the closet. They thought, Why don’t they throw a big party just for Margot? And that’s what they did."
Read more from Patrik Kaleshi's ending
"After that, they all started crying of happiness and excitement and said that it was the best day of everyone's life."
Read more from Miguel Porta's ending
Artist: Ava Mehrotra
