Georgia river of words : 2000/2001 winning art & poetry journal

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(Deadline: February 151 . Winners are announced in April. All students who enter receive a certificate from ROW. National Grand Prize Winners (8 students annually) receive a trip to Washington, D.C. and are recognized at the Library of Congress. National winners and finalists have been selected from Georgia every year since 1997!
The Georgia River of Words Project is coordinated through the Georgia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) Program. WET provides ROW Teacher's Guides and Journals free of charge to educators. When students' original poetry and art are returned from the National
recognized by Georgia Project WET at an Awards Ceremony. Poetry and art are on display in the Georgia River of Words Exhibition for one year. The Exhibition travels to schools, nature centers, conferences, water festivals, parks, and state buildings.
For more information contact:
Georgia Project WET
Environmental Protection Division
4220 International PKWY, Suite IOI Atlanta, Georgia 30354 (404) 675-1638

TABLE
Watterson. Nick .. Wheeler, Whitney Yanez. Amanda E

RiveR2i:Words ~
HEAL THE WORLD
Eon Justin Hatter Grade 10
Avondale High School Avondale Estates
NATIONAL GRAND PRIZE WINNER

2000 ART/POETRY 4

WATER
Erick Brown Grade 11
Avondale High School Avondale Estates
NATIONAL FINALIST

THE RHYTHM OF LIFE
The ground beneath us is our past The air above is our future.
The earth is our mother Time is our father.
Mother Earth does not belong to us We belong to the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life He is just a tiny strand in it.
Alicia D. Purdin Grade 12 Gordon High School Calhoun NATIONAL FINALIST

ELEMENTS
LMNG IN TIE WILD
SUBMERGE IN THE WONDER
Marla Scott Grade 12 Cedar 8boala High School A1beDa NArlONAL PINALIST

6

Laughter in the water, at the dock, cast and pull, music of water and voices. Salt water in the mouth, taste the river mud. Reach for the net, arm goes down, hold with your teeth, cast spin, and release.
Breathe. Crash of water. Spray on the wind.

Hand over hand, cast and pull, laughter at a caught fish, a squid. Stop to watch a heron. Missed throw, the net twists. Crash, pull it in, and throw again. Laughter as a ten-year-old boy tries to throw a fifty-pound net. Catch him before he goes in.

Sun goes down in the marsh. Light the lamps. Cricl<ets sing and moonlight reflects off the water. Moths hum and bump at the lights, shrimp till the tide changes.

TOGETHER FOREVER

Orange faces to blue, night sky. Night on the marsh, the river.
Sit and watch the tide. Birds cry, marsh smell of salt and water, marsh mud and wood smoke. Pine bugs whir and scream in the dark. Lap of water on the dock. Tired voices murmur, soft laughter.
A cool breeze whips wet and tired faces. Cools the body and the mind.

Pack up the nets; blow out the lamps, head home.
Sit in the kitchen and clean shrimp. Get kicked out of the kitchen and sit on the porch and clean shrimp.



Pick up by the antenna, pinch off the head.

Old men drinking beer and telling stories.



Flash of cigarettes in the darl<, sweet smoke.

Glow ofcharcoal, hamburgers on the grill.

Old women in the kitchen cracking jokes, laughter as they cook.

Crabs on the stove, coleslaw on the counter, peanuts on the boil.

Life, the river.



. '

UNTITLED

MAllARD'S POND

MY CREEK

THE THREE ELEMENTS OF LIFE
Sergio L. Merriweather Grade 10 Avondale High School Avondale Estates NATIONAL MERIT
Watershed Wonder
A watershed starts way up high From hilltops and mountains that touch the sky Melting, then flowing this water soon goes To the rivers, lakes and oceans that lie below.
Lauren Butler Grade 2
Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School Thomasville
STATE WINNER

8

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UNTITLED Liz Nevil Grade 10 Druid Hills High School
Atlanta NATIONAL MERIT

UNTlnED Delinerabeth Moore
Grade 12 Avondale High School
Avondale Estates NATIONAL MERIT

Jane Carey Grades
St. Thomas More School Decatur STATE WINNER

UNTITLED Amanda E. Yanez
Grade 10 Druid Hills High School
Atlanta
NATIONAL MERIT

SERENITY
Farhana Sobhan Grade 10 Avondale High School Avondale Estates NATIONAL MERIT
Watershed
the groves of t nts growing out over
And help keep it d,nlc. At night that lake A deer hunted through the woods by pdck of hounds,
And storms, waves splash toward the sky, on earth or under the spreading sky North.
Chirag Shah Grade 11 Clarkston High School Clarkston STATE WINNER

MARSH
I soar ov r e\el)th J
I see ~r-an ch ro_ hke witches t air
hanging down
I S(' th' air ato darting st althly
thro gh the water pl ymg their gal'.les
I see ra:ndrops on the water and minnom play rv. around hmy rocks I P~rch on my favol'I e bra, and see my last sight for to: it startlr me
it'-s myc;elf a bald c 1'e
I am mighty e.._gle,
In a Cody Dunwoody Grade 4 Sonny Carter Elementary School Macon
STATE WINNER
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RAIN FROG
Marianne Walker Grade 12
Druid Hills High School Atlanta
NATIONAL MERIT

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Ganges River

Kristy Hale Grade 1
Segers School of Design Snelville AWARD

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T.J. Kaplan Grade4
Tritt Elementary School Marietta AWARD

A river is a worm wiggling

its way down the path of

life giving and

receiving to all its living things

Tiny droplets of rain pounding

into the flowing river

as it races

its way to the ocean

it reaches a waterfall on its

way and tumbles down it with a large splash
slowly it gains up its speed
and starts
back toward the ocean
to be free

Katie Knight Grade 7
Hightower Trail Middle School Marietta AWARD

STATE WINNER

Keshita Patel Grade 9
Clarkston High School Clarkston
STATE WINNER

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UN11TLED
Emily R. Newdow Grade 11
Druid Hills High School Atlanta AWARD

The Pollll

THE POND
Jenna Saxon Grade 5 Oglethorpe County Elementary School Lexington AWARD

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Sounds of a fawn Prancing through The leaves, The sounds of
Rippling water From jumping frogs, Wind whistling Through hollow trees,
Water hitting rocks Makes a sweet
Trickling sound,
Snakes gliding In a slow rhythm,
It all forms
A steady beat, That's the Sing Along Creek!
Chelsea Pound Grade 5 Sonny Carter Elementary School Macon STATE WINNER

WATCH THAT ARST STEP, JT"S A OOOZV!
Kalie Mosher Grade 8
Haynes Bridge Middle School Alpharetta AWARD

13

THE FISHING HOLE Nick Watterson Grade 8
Haynes Bridge Middle School Alpharetta AWARD
BEGINNING OF A DREAM Monica Tomczak Grade 11 Avondale High School Avondale Estates AWARD

Seasons on the
River
I follow the river in my boat,
above the fish and frogs I float.
The birds fly, dance and sing. The river is happy, for it is spring.
In the river I splash and play. The river's water cools down the day.
A day without the river would be a bummer,
for the sun burns bright, and it is summer.
A rainbow of leaves crunches under my feet. The berries at the water's edge
smell ever so sweet.
The water trickles and sings with splashes so small, its song is lovely, as it is fall.
Across the river the skaters give a show. The ice shines and shimmers, as it begins to snow.
The trees are bare chilled to the center. The water is frozen,
and it is winter.
Stephanie Schweitzer Grade 7
Pine Mountain Middle School Kennesaw,
SIATE WINNER

A POND
Rachel Soracco Grade3
Lewis Elementary School Kennesaw AWARD

I am a mer flowing, splashing, happy, Swooshing, slick and bumpy, When I go, as I flow, And bubbles appear, They disappear as I whisper to them, As they move near me.

A River Dream

lina,.il.1 Vu,;da.iit Grade 11
.\~m.d lt Hi ,t Sch JO,
Avondale Estates AWARD

RIVER OF WORDS

Honf, Quf' Ir..m <,,..,df' 11
<l,n k.'>ton High ',chool
( l,trkston ', lAI I< WINNfR

16

RIVER THROUGH GEORGIA
Anna Ekwurtzel Grade 12 Druid Hills High School Atlanta NATIONAL FINALIST

AVISIT WITH NATURE
Chris Hendrikson Grade 9
Avondale High School Avondale Estates
NATIONAL RNALIST

It sounds like dr . It s~ells musty,u:::::;::;g waves

DirtItthloaot kssmleiklles like reshly tilled earth.

It f l a green snot puddle

ee s cool and wet

.

It tastes like grou~dwater

That hasn't had a bath.

Behind my house and down thP slope, There flows a little creek. You would not believe the wondrous things, That live there week after wel>k.
I walk down the path, And gaze around, At all of nature, And listen to its glorious sound.
There's a crow calling, As it chases a hawk, And squirrels rustling the trees, Collecting nuts for their winter stock.
But the tiniest life., Dwells in the stream, The beautiful water world, Into which the sun casts its beam.
I stretch out across the great fallen tree, Which spans the beautiful brook. And there, suspended over tihe sparkling water, I begin to really look.
I see the fish swim, small and quick, Theil- scales shimntE'ring in thE'ir flight. I see thE' crayfish r-ush for holes under roC"ks,
Their armor gleaming in the Hght.
Sometimes I ~ya salamander, long and thin,
Dashing over the slickest stones. At other times I notice a snake, slithering on the bank, Its manner so cold, l feel chilled in my bones.
IJlebinB my house and down the slope, 'Illlere flows a little creek, A c:barmins p@ce to go, If :it's tranquility that you seek.
Stephanie Kingsley Grade 7 Dodgen Middle School Marietta STATE WINNER
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ADRINK IN THE FOIIESI'
1c Ile J rd
G de
Avond L e High School \ n e :a
NATIONAL FlNALIST
THE RIVER OF MUSIC
I~\~ll Kull n Gmdc 6
ru,,..1 Mo.11tl ssor. Scho<'l M..ui lta
NATIONAL RNALIST
SEA TUR'Tl.ES' ENEMIES
Omdl' 3 l.4Jwir E!emenliffj St:'hool
Kennesaw NATIONAL FINALIST

Watershed
I'm a little raindrop, Falling to the ground.
Falling to the ground, Going down, down, down.
THUMP!
I fall on the land, And I'm soaked into the soil.
I flow underground, Almost like I'm oil.
Then into rivers, lakes, or wells.
I came from the mountains, Down to the dells.
Now when you tum on your faucet, You will see
No one else, But little old me.
Jessica Brodley-Lopez Grade5
May Howard Elementary School Savannah
STATE WINNER

the sea

RS Kntfo Young
Gradr 5 A!t,xander II Schc,ol
Ma('f)n NATIONAL FINALIST

i
Jouic S. Christie Grade II
Avondalt> High Srhool A\oncfalCJ E..tatcs NATIONAL MERIT

Susie Klodnickl Grade 7
Dodgen Middle School Marietta STATE WINNER

Margaret Wright Gradc ll
Druid Hills High School Atlant..l
NATIONAL FINALIST

Dew Fairies
A Hot summer's day turns into night, as we go to bed they go to flight,
the Dew Fairies come to wet the sweet grass, their touch is so sweet, they touch it last,
So that in the morning, when we do wake
the garden to water, the leaves to rake, We will find the grass wet with dew, A simple yet sweet reminder to you, of all the magic that night can bring, and all the beauty of everything.
Sarah Colombo
GradP 8
Mode: Middl!:' S<.hool Rome STATE WINNER

20
THE NATURE'S LIFE
( dll lo~ tan Lui. G dr 11
\, 'lt t H1 it Sr~C'ol A,.>nd c E.. tat NATIONAL MERfT

TOUCH THE EARTH Kati.> Mann
Grade 9 Avondale High SC'hool A\Ond lo Estates NATIONAL MERIT

UNTITlED Eon Hatter
G cJ 11 Avondll ... Hir:h b~hool
AH ndal E. la C
NATIONAL MERIT

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Fish's View of the :River:~,



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All around me and my: scales.

23
NATURE'S AUTUMN Christopher Tenny Grade 11
Avondale High School Avondale Estates NATIONAL MERIT
The Watershed
Tiny rain drops by the moonlight beam Slowly falls and forms a stream. They are cold and make you shiver As they hurry to the river. The river runs wild and free Never stopping for man or tree. Without a care of time or motion It quickly rushes to the ocean.
Jessica Manr ing Grade 7
Soperton Middle School Soper ton
STATE WINNER

Blue
She remembers those summer Sunday mornings, sitting in her bathing suit on the roof of the family Chevrolet, squinting against the blazing blue sky.
The water from the hose melts around her body. It flows down the angles and contours,
streams across the blue metal,
slips to the scalding concrete.
A river forms, running down the driveway, racing with the street curb. Sometimes she races, too, bare feet splashing, until the river is boiled by asphalt, until it is clouded by dirt and sand and soggy cigarette butts, until it plunges into the sewer's oceans. Then she turns back.
Sitting on the roof of the car, the water is cold and clean, metallic on her tongue.
Rivers and oceans are blue like the blazing sky or the family Chevrolet, but the water from the hose is always clear.
She closes her eyes against the sun, and when she opens them again, all she can see is blue fading away.
Rachel Kim Grade 12 Chamblee High School Chamblee STATE WINNER

ICE KINGDOM
Carrie Freshour Grade 8
Avondale High School Avondale Estates STATE WINNER

ABSOLUTE FREEDOM
Kristy Nicole Williams Grade 12 Avondale High School Avondale Estates NATIONAL MERIT

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Haurdic Vildana Grade 12 Avondale High School AwodaleEatatee
NAT10NAI. IEIT
Cbrilltopber TemlJ
Gnde 11 Awndale High School Avondale Bataie8
NATIONAL IEl1'

ll
Justin Avery Grade 12 Avondale High School Avondale Estates NA110NAl MERIT

26

U D r L~
Susie Klodnicki Grade7
Ood?en Middle School Marietta STATE WINNER

EARTH MAGIC
Heather Hansford
Oglethorpe County ElementaryGSrcahdoeo5l Lexington
STATE WINNER

7iETURTLE

Kiana Mantea Jackson

Grade 4

Lewis Elementary S h001

Kennesaw

c

STATE WINNER

Journey

Watershed

Brant Martin Grade 8 Adairsville Middle School
Adairsville STATE WINNER

Zoe Bockius-Suwyn Grad e 5 May Howard Elementary School Savannah STATE WINNER

I

'I I

MattMcCann

GradelO

Decatur High School

Decatur

STATE WINNER

Chanmonopisey Lim Grade9 Avondale High School Avondale Estates STATE WINNER

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t!1c.JI m 01, 1,1s fo1111c!I
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ater he
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Like a water fountain

Creatures are in there. You see a frog or a water spider on

Goodbye friend! I hope you have a good winter!

J hn T 1tt

kt Tommai.ello Kinde~arten
mt nlaJ1 School
Marietta SlATE WINNER

30
2001 State Honor.able Mention

AFTJ<.R OOl.\i AI ~OPE CRREK Madison Hill Grade 2 Lewis Elementary School Kennesaw ART
LUNAR LAKh Sarah Onderka Grade 4 Barnwell Elementary School Alpharetta
ART
WATI.R, WATf R, AIL AROU~D Emily Forbes Grade 4 Lewis Elementary School Kennesaw POETRY
CYCLI OF I IFI: Ryan Graham Grade 2 Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School Thomasbille POETRY

MY MA'\GROVJ:<S Rebecca Peterson Grade 5 Shakerag Elementary School Duluth POETRY
MY OCHLOCKN E RIV I< R Branden Smith Grade2 Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School Thomasville POETRY
SWAMPY FU
Brent Streets Grade 2 Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School Thomasville POETRY
A RIV R'S JOl 111\EY Austin West Grade 3 Lewis Elementary School Kennesaw POETRY