5th grade winner – Essay
“Untitled”
By Mariah Mayfield
Teacher: Ms. Auletta-LeConte School
Award: First Place-Fifth Grade Essay
When I woke up I saw a small green box. As I rubbed my eyes, I noticed that the box had a lock with no key. I left the small box alone. I stepped onto the cold wooden floor. As I did, an alarming chill shot through my spine. I walked toward my very unorganized desk. I grabbed my pink charm bracelet that my dad gave to me before he left for the army. It had all my favorite things; a football, a violin, and an I Love You charm. But there was something unusual about my bracelet.
It had another charm, a new charm that looked like a key. I ran toward the box with joy. I slowly and carefully injected the key into the locked box. I twisted left and turned right. The silver “U” shape unhinged itself from the black rectangle. Using only my thumb and index finger I opened the box. It was a letter from my Uncle Tommy. I opened it with excitement. The note said, “I’m really sorry to say kiddo but your dad died”. I cried and cried and cried. I wish I could have died with him.
5th grade winner- Poetry
“Boxes”
By Hazel Fosket-Hyde
Teacher: Carol Goyen, Cragmont School
Award: First Place, Fifth Grade Poetry
In my pocket.
I carry a box
The size of a nickel
Not shiny, nor dull,
The color of rust
It holds all my wishes
my dreams
and my hopes,
In that tiny box.
It jounces around with some poems inside,
Just waiting to be thought of
to be written or spoken,
just waiting
With the wishes
the dreams,
and the hopes.
All of us have one.
A box.
With poems.
And wishes.
Our dreams.
Our hopes.
All in that tiny box
Boxes,
What’s in yours?
5th grade winner – Art
4th grade winner – Essay
“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.
He wandered into his new room and looked around. It was small and plain, and it added to his sadness. Then, he noticed an odd little door along one wall. He opened it, curious, and saw a teeny, dusty room with an old, worn out box in the middle of it. All alone in the hidden room, he lifted the heavy lid of the box.
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.
4th grade winner – Poetry
“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……………….