Student Writing

 

Jennifer is in the seventh grade and not quite sure what she wants to be when she grows up, and it’s okay.  She does know that she loves writing about all sorts of things.  Jennifer enters all of the LA GEAR UP writing contests, and sometimes she wins.  While her writing isn’t perfect, Jennifer knows that the key is hard work especially when  it comes to getting through middle school and high school.  As long as she works hard on her reading and writing skills everything else will fall into place.  Before you know it, Jennifer will be going through freshman orientation at one of Louisiana’s universities.  For now, she is going to keep expressing herself and working hard in all of her classes.   

Anthology of Student Reflections: Poetry and Essays 2003-2007

The following link will take you to a downloadable form of the Anthology of Student Reflections:  Poetry and Essays 2003-2007.  This is a compilation of student writing that spans the course of LA GEAR UP’s activities in Louisiana.  Here you can see the writing of other students and may even run across some of your own writing that you’ve submitted over the years. 

anthology-of-student-reflections.pdf

Examples from the Anthology of Student Reflections:  Poetry and Essays 2003-2007 

A Better Place

Things I will do to make my community a better place
First, I will start by not dividing the race.
You are over there and I am over here
Why are we divided?  Is it out of fear?

Next, I will bring more jobs in our town
This will stop the young and old people from standing around.
There is no place to go not even a community center
You wonder why there is so much breaking and entering.

Then, I will bring more jobs into this town
Clearly, something needs to be done about the situation.
Testing, policies and curriculums to only name a few
With so many calamities in the system, what must a student or teacher do?

Last but not least, I would change the corky politics
Buying and selling votes, we most definitely need to fix.
So many promises made to the community
Then when you get in office there is no unity.

These are just some ways that I would help the community
With more dedication and perseverence we have the opportunity.
We can make our community a better place to live
The key is to not just take but to “give.”

De Junae Shaw - Grade 8
Lake Providence Jr. High School

 

 

I Want to Be a Mermaid

Everyone is born with hopes and dreams of whom or what they want to be.
With each passing year you change your mind
You’ll have hopes and dreams of every kind.
But mostly about your future of course
Because for a good future you must make a good choice.

At age five, you will look to your mom and say “I want to be a little mermaid”
Your mother will tell you “It is impossible you see”
But you tell her that you are determined to be.

At age nine reality sinks in
You decide to be a fireman.

At age twelve you want to look smart
so when asked about your future you try to look sharp.
You raise your head high and try to pronounce
Words like psychiatrist that weigh a whole ounce.

When you hit your teens you try to look cool
You say that you plan to drop out of school.
Other teens might look to you and say
I want to be a homemaker someday.

By time you are eighteen it is time to make a choice
If you want many things needed on this earth.

When you are old you can look back and say.
“Just to think I wanted to be a little mermaid.”
You are as free as a fish because you worked hard
You have missed every hook, every snare, and every net
You work to deserve all that you get.

So try to remember what you wanted to be
It just might happen so just wait and see.
Wanting to be a bird could make you a pilot.

Whatever you want to be you should not try and hide it
If you wanted to be a pig in a dirty position
You could end up being a leading politician.

So let your mind soar, reach for the sky
You can be anything if you just try.

Sunnie Whitaker
Franklin Parish High School

 

 

The Meaning of Success

A pat on the back, a job well done,
That’s what a father said to his son.

Even though he lost, he gave it his best,
Little does he know, that was success.

Failures that you think cut you deep as a knife,
Are only small stepping stones, along the pathway of life.

These lessons you’ve learned well, as you laughed and you cried,
But the most important lesson of all is that success comes from inside.

Ethan Lawrence - Grade 9
Varnado High School

 

 

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