April is National Poetry Month and that Means ACE Poetry Contest Treats
By Dexter and Luna, ACE Poetry Contest Co-Mascots, assisted by Martha Sessums, ACE President, who kind of understands dog talk
It’s April and that means it’s National Poetry Month. That also means that ACE will once again support a poetry contest for its ACE Learning Center schools. Poems are the best treats to learn about, read, share, write and just enjoy the insight and stories they tell.
Hi. We’re Dexter (Golden Retriever on the left) and Luna (a Pit/Husky mix.) We’re the new ACE Poetry Contest mascots and represent Alpha Public Schools too.
Hi everyone. Dexter and Luna here. We’re the new mascots for the 10th annual ACE Poetry Contest. Our buddy Riley, who was the ACE Poetry Contest mascot for nine years, has retired. He is a tall dog to follow, but we’re gonna try our best. Let’s start with listing the schools in the contest and their mascots.
We gotta start with Alpha Public Schools, the school that we represent. We (Dexter and Luna) love the great students, teachers and staff at the school and we’re honored to be their new mascots.
Max here. Proud to be a part of SFIHS and looking forward to everyone’s poems.
San Francisco International High School is next. And he’s baack – Max the Husky. Max who was the inspiration for the school mascot when SFIHS got started and he is still inspiring, including as mascot for SFIHS’s poetry contests.
High flying Bessie here. The poets at OIHS will really show our beautiful colors with poetry.
Our friends at Oakland International High School picked a high flying mascot this year – Bessie the butterfly. Bessie loves poetry, is known for her flowery prose and enjoys long flights in the sky and looking down on the world below. She was named for a special person too. Bessie Coleman was the first Black/Native American to hold a pilot’s license and the first Black to hold an international pilot’s license. Expect some high flying poetry insight from Bessie.
Of course, there are rules to the ACE Poetry Contest but there is also money involved. Money means treats for humans and humans usually buy treats for dogs with their cash, so we’re good. I suspect they buy flowers too, so Bessie is covered. Here are the rules:
?Any type of poetry is eligible. It can be slam, limerick, Haiku, epic, free verse – just whatever you and your teacher agree upon. That’s the cool thing about poetry. It’s totally creative.
?The contests at each school will be managed by each school. School rules. (Sorry, Luna loves puns.)
?And the winners are: First place receives $150; Second Place receives $125 and Third Place receives $100. Think of all the treats you can buy if you win.
That’s it. Just a fun way to learn about and enjoy poetry. Then write a poem you love and enter the contest. You might win. And that would be very cool.
Here’s the website for National Poetry Month so you can learn more. Also, April 29 is Poem in Your Pocket Day where you can read poetry to anyone – family, friends, even strangers who look like they need a good poem.
We’ll be here to cheer you on all month so look for ACE Spectrum blogs and poems from us – Dexter, Luna, Max and Bessie. We’ll also be doing some social media stuff so look for us at #ACEPoetryContest, #NationalPoetryContest, #NPM22 or share our blogs on your social media favs.
As Riley used to say – treat yourself to a poem.