Student poets from the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb placed across the board in multiple categories in this year’s Poetry Society of Virginia youth poetry contest. The competition draws hundreds of entries from across the United States annually.

From Jill Cotta’s third- and fourth-grade class, Gilles Urwin won first prize for his poem, “Watercolor Dusk.” George Graham placed second for his poem, “Kerr Pond,” and Quinn Gallagher received third prize for his poem, titled “Pemaquid Beach.” The honored poets were all in the fourth grade at CTL this past school year.

Students in Angela Lathem-Ballard’s fifth- and sixth-grade writing workshop also captured the majority of prizes in their age group. Sixth grader Alice Morier took the top prize for her poem, “Seams of Love.” Fifth grader Sven Neale placed third for his piece, “Sled.” Fellow fifth grader Lila Milden received the category’s honorable mention for her poem, called “Lost Dog.”

Students from Stacey Adams’ seventh- and eighth-grade writing class also impressed contest judges. The poem “Alewife” by eighth grader Ryo Sato-Papagiannis won second place for the age category. Seventh grader Azalea Averill received third prize for her poem, “Our World,” and Holland Carroll, also in seventh grade, earned an honorable mention for her piece, “Dandelions.”

The Poetry Society of Virginia is the second oldest poetry society in the nation. The PSV awards its youth poetry winners with monetary prizes of $25, $15, and $10 to first, second, and third places respectively. Each honored student also receives notes from their category’s judge offering feedback about their poem and details about why it was chosen to be honored.

Center for Teaching and Learning students are regularly honored for their writing in this and other national competitions, crafted when children and their teachers meet in daily writing workshops. The teacher presents information about skills or features of writing. Students then develop their own ideas for pieces of writing, and draft, revise, edit, and publish their work.

To learn more about CTL, please visit our website at www.c-t-l.org, or contact CTL’s Head of School, Katy Inman, at katy@c-t-l.org.