They're Each a Poet, and Now They Know It

When Dolly Goyal, the , asked for entries for the 2012 Teen Poetry Contest, she wasn't prepared for the overwhelming response.

"We received a and it was very difficult to choose only one middle school and high school winner from the bunch," said Goya.

But Goyal and John Parker Campbell, the editor of creative writing magazine, read each and every poem and although it was a tough task, they narrowed down the entries to six winners--three high school and three middle school. The six young poets were honored Tuesday night at the Belmont Library.

"The first step in poetry is introspection," said Campbell, who is also a special education associate at Carlmont.

"I help the students get past the 'what should I feel?' and focus on 'what do I feel?' when writing poetry," Campbell added.

The poetry contest was broken down into two categories: middle and high school, and from each category one winner and two honorable mentions were selected.

All six winners read their poems to the audience in the Taube Room of the Belmont Library. Each was presented with a gift card.

Middle School Poetry Contest Winners:

    First Place: Albert Odom (7th grade, Tierra Linda) “Hoop Dreams”
    Honorable Mention: Mike Michelini (8th grade, Central) “The Deadly Diaries”
    Honorable Mention: Rebecca Medina (8th grade, Central), “Unwelcome Save”

High School Poetry Contest Winners:

    First Place: Maika Taladua (Carlmont), Untitled
    Honorable Mention: Sandy Young-Cellilo (Carlmont) “Paper Stars”
    Honorable Mention: Melissa Newton (Carlmont) “The Phone Call”

"This was so successful, we'll do it again next year!" said Goyal.