Questions

Lovers are often inspired by the tiniest pieces of paper that contain words of endearment. The inspirational impact that the words have on their emotions can be seen in their eyes and by the heavy rise and fall of their chest. The words of poetry might be brief and concise but they are words that truly inspire women to fall deeper in love with the person that wrote those words.

Feelings of love inspire verses of poetry that are both romantic and heartfelt. The words can convey passion, intent, or outright sexual connotations that convey how much one person misses the other. Men at war write inspirational songs of love and place them on cassette tapes so that their true love can hear the sincerity in the words that are spoken.

Some poetry verses might allow someone who has lost the love of their life to vent their anger and begin to heal. Some of the inspirational verses that were written by those lost on September 11th are now considered cherished renderings that can never be repeated and are therefore priceless. Some of the words of love in the poetry verses will ring true for many years, until the person is through grieving and ready to start a brand new life.

There have been instances throughout history where inspirational poetry was used to get troops ready for battle. Egyptian Kings had inspirational messages inscribed in their tombs and some of those messages were lingering thoughts of love that they wanted to take into the afterlife to be read by a wife that died many years before. Some women convey their love inspired poetry pieces on the bathroom mirror and the love of their life will not be able to read them until the bathroom fog appears which is typically many hours after their night-long rendezvous.

High school students will often find innocent and awe inspiring words of love written by their current girlfriend in their school lockers when they are changing classes. The girlfriends might include a greeting card with an inspirational verse of poetry in it that might leave the recipient with a sense of calm and a secure feeling that they are loved no matter what happens after graduation.

Simple words of love that are etched in the sand can make a honeymoon more memorable. Sometimes the simple disclosure of Mr. and Mrs. on the hotel registry will be inspirational words of a poetic nature that is music to the ears of a newly married couple. Those poetic words will help solidify the commitment that they made to each other and help them recall the vows with poetic verses that they took at the altar only hours ago.


- Jim Brown

As any parent or high school teacher already knows, high school students can be hard to motivate. While it is true that some teens love to write , it’s fair to say that most of them would prefer not to. As educators, we know that the only way to become a better writer is to practice writing. The problem with most high school writing assignments is that they lack relevance for students. They are more concerned with getting the right answer than they are about developing their writing skills and pushing themselves to hone their verbal prowess. At the same time, they do seem to show more interest in the work of their peers than they do in the works of literature in their textbooks.

After spending months and months teaching your students the hallmarks of good writing, a great way to spark some interest in writing is to self-publish an anthology of creative writing at your school. As you approach this publication project, there are a few things you should consider.

Some teens love attention and thrive on competition. Others prefer to silently participate. If you structure the publication project correctly, both types of students will be interested in working on the publication. Let students know that everyone who submits their pieces by the early bird deadline will definitely have at least one piece selected for publication. In addition to including all writers who submit early, hold a competition for the best pieces. Offer simple prizes for first, second, and third places in different categories. You can select categories based on the anticipated scope of the publication project. For small schools, choose broad categories such as poetry, prose, etc. For larger schools, you can choose more specific categories such as sonnets, descriptive paragraphs, and the like. You may also want to expand the project to include art. In doing so, you can also likely get the art staff to help you lay out and design the final publication.

Set your deadlines for submission and decide on other critical dates. You should assemble a team of students who can help you type and edit the submissions as they come in. You will want to develop a style guide and train the students to follow it. Establish a directory and a procedure and rules for saving and accessing the typed submissions. The more thought you put into the process at the beginning, the more smoothly your publication will come together later.

As you and your team put together the files and make design decisions, you need to order the supplies required to physically assemble the anthology. Before you order supplies, think about the size of the final document and how many copies you plan to distribute. You should think about offering complimentary copies to winners and to your publications team. Others can buy the publication for a nominal fee. Once you’ve run the numbers, order the paper, ink or toner, and binding supplies. Depending on how you choose to bind the publication, you will need to order different supplies.

Once you have the document print-ready, it’s time to assemble. Again, this is a chance to get students involved. They like to help with office tasks they are not accustomed to doing, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get some help. Once the documents are assembled, work with your administration to recognize the winning students. You can put their names on a sign or bulletin board or even recognize them at a school assembly. Once the word gets out, other students and their families will be calling the school to purchase copies of the book.

It’s not difficult to self-publish a school anthology if you are organized. Plan ahead and enjoy seeing your students develop a sense of pride in their writing as they share it with their classmates and their families. There is something magical about seeing one’s own words preserved in a bound publication like a school anthology. It is an experience they will carry with them throughout their lives.


- Jeff McRitchie

My daughter, 16, has mentioned Interlochen, and a summer program at the University of Iowa. I know there are many programs, but don’t know how to choose amoung them. Which have the best reputations? Thanks.
- Tony D

I’m writing a book about high school students. I need a good last name for my character. She is just a middle class kid trying to pass. I know her first name is Timber, I just need a last name for her.
- Aria Lita

1.) How do I, a guy, convince people that poetry is perfectly awesome.

2.) What can I use to convince people to join (as in a competition)?

3.) Outside of coordinating entry into competition, what else could we do? Would discussion be that appealing to other people?

Thanks!
I mean is there a notable poetry contest for high school students?
- Fyrebyrd