By Daniel Knight
Teacher: Tara Easley-Fouche, Malcolm X School
Award: First Place, Fourth Grade Art
"In Sweet Joy"
“Box of Mystery”
By Francie Lopez
Teacher: Dawn Bail-Washington School
Award: First Place-Fourth Grade Poetry
I will put in my box……
a chinese dress, full of laughter,
a coat, full to the brim with loneliness,
a single tear, full of sadness,
I will put in my box…….
the first groan of school, filled with desperation,
the first slave who escaped,
the first letter of independence,
I will put in my box,
a gleeful laughter,
a smile as cold as the moon,
the cry of one now gone,
I will put in my box…..
the first ray of sunshine, after a cold, harsh, winter,
the first flower of spring,
the first laugh of a newborn,
I will put in my box….
a long shower of tears,
a cold feeling filling the room,
a cry of pain, soooo loud,
I will fashion the box with silver and gold, the hinges of the moonstone, the latch of peridot
When you open the box……you will feel evil, happy, sad, independent, and mysterious
You…….will be ME……………….
“Welcome Home”
By Luca Adrian Mirza
Teacher: Sean Keller, Jefferson school
Award: First Place, Fourth Grade Essay
There was a boy who had moved out of his old house and into a new one. He moved away from his friends, his school, his neighbors, and a few other important things. This made the boy sad. While his parents fixed up the house, the boy stared at the unfamiliar walls. He felt scared, and wondered if he would regain the things he had lost when he moved away.
The box had a few letters in it. The boy picked up one of the letters and started to read. It was written more than fifty years before by a kid just a few years older than him. He learned that the kid had just moved to the house and that he was lonely. A second letter described him fighting in World War II. The boy was amazed as he read about these adventures.
He looked deeper in the box. Now, the kid was all grown up and leaving the house. The house had been good to him. He said he wrote the letters because of a letter he found when he moved into the house! Wow!
At the bottom of the box, the boy found a letter that was so old, the paper was crumbling. It was 100 years old. Another young boy was writing about his just-built house. He wrote his letter to make sure everyone who ever lived in this house would feel at home.
The boy read carefully. He finished the letter, placed it back in the box, and sat there thinking for a long, long time. He didn’t feel scared or sad anymore. He wasn’t alone. He returned to his room, sat down at his desk, and started writing.