Peoria’s Whittier Primary School is celebrating its young poets following their success in the statewide Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards. This annual competition, which saw a record 988 submissions this year, recognized one student with a win and another with an honorable mention.
Eight-year-old Antonio Galindo emerged as one of the two winners in the second-grade category. His poem, titled “Ode to a Library,” was inspired by his immediate connection between poems and books. “When I heard about this poem thing, I thought automatically: poem, books,” he explained.
Clara Locke, also 8, earned an honorable mention for her poem, “Day at the Beach.” She dedicated her work to her grandmother, who had surgery and loved the beach. “I wrote about the beach to remind me of her,” Clara said.
Harper Causley, another young poet from Whittier, received an honorable mention in 2022. Her poem was inspired by her strong bond with her sister. “I wrote my poem because I really like my sister, and she’s the only sister I have,” Harper shared.
This year’s submissions frequently touched on themes like personal places, relationships, and nature, according to Illinois Humanities. Sherlin Dominguez, a past winner, drew inspiration from the sky for her poem, “The Stars and the Sun and the Moon.” She explained, “I wrote my poem because I heard that the stars in the morning, not all of them are gone, but the sun is one of the stars.”
Charlotte Tyler, another returning winner, titled her poem “Sunset of the Flowers.” She found the writing process challenging but rewarding. “The hardest part was definitely coming up with the idea and seeing if things rhymed or went well together,” said Charlotte, 9.
The young poets found the writing process to be a learning experience. Sherlin noted that winning is not everything. “If you win, you could be happy. If you lose, you could be happy too, because at least you brought in poetry,” she said. Charlotte valued the process of crafting a poem’s ending. “My favorite part of writing the poem was the ending,” she said. “The endings are always such beautiful parts of the poem.”
The students credited their families, friends, and teachers for their support. Charlotte also acknowledged the help of Whittier library manager Jennifer Brady. “The poem that won, she helped me correct a lot of things and helped me write the ending,” Charlotte said.
Brady expressed enthusiasm for the students’ achievements. “I am so excited about kids who just write because they can, and that they’re inspiring each other,” she said.
Looking to the future, the students have big plans. Harper aspires to be both a gymnast and an author, while Clara envisions writing a guidebook on shading. Antonio, one of this year’s winners, will travel to Chicago to read his poem at the awards ceremony and use his $100 prize for video games and hamster decorations.
The students are already brainstorming their next poems. Harper plans to write about embracing imperfections, Charlotte will explore books, Antonio will focus on The Legend of Zelda, Clara will delve into fairy tales, and Sherlin will write about superheroes.
Illinois Humanities also supports young poets with video lessons, writing prompts, and teaching guides as part of the awards program.