ACE Spectrum
ACE Spectrum
Ace Spectrum is about you — the ACE Learning Centers.
It’s a quick sharing of ideas, inspiration, opinions and best practices among our continuing education organizations.
Please join the conversation.
Learning is a Road We Make Together – Two Legends Inspire Poets and Write Poetry for the ACE Poetry Contest
By Max, San Francisco International High School ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, and Vlada Teper, poet, writer and founding teacher at SFIHS
Max, SFIHS ACE Poetry Contest Mascot.
Bark, bark. Max here. I’m the ACE Poetry Contest Mascot at San Francisco International High School (SFIHS.)
Ms. Vlada, like my father Mr. Jose, has been at SFIHS since the beginning, so we’re both legends. I want to give Ms. Vlada a bark-out because she started this really cool club at the school that used to be called Peace Club. She and the students really like to learn about non-violent communication in this club and they always plan really fun learning activities for us at school.
I can’t wait until we go back to in-person (ahem, in-dog) learning because they also cook delicious food from all over the world and share it with all of us at the school! Yum!
Ms. Vlada is also a great poet with great cred. Her poetry has appeared in publications like Oberon, Tuliptree Review, The Potomac Journal and The Mind’s Eye. And now her poetry is here to inspire all you poets for the ACE Poetry Contest. This year, she is teaching SFIHS Juniors Computer Programming and College and Career classes. SFIHS Huskies rock poetry, even in JavaScript.
The Road
With gratitude to Paolo Freire
“Miss, we need to
Practice coding
Every day, not just
One time next week,”
My student corrects me
the day before Spring Break.
“Otherwise, we forget.
It is very easy
To forget.”
I agree. JavaScript
Can really be the first
To go.
What else is on the brink
Of extinction? Which skills, which words,
Particularly in a pandemic?
In all truth, JavaScript
Is the least of my
Concerns. We will review
It this coming Tuesday. I
Worry about the student who
Lost his smile. About the student
Who forgets to ask questions,
Because which question do
You start with when there
Are about a million?
I worry about the black
Squares on the monitor that
Are not there today,
Because they are working.
Because survival is survival.
The disappearances these
Days are multi-faceted. They speak
Different tongues, co-existing
All at once. Still,
I turn on Zoom and say, “Good Morning.”
The shy, sleepy, excited, confused voices,
Emojis,
Words,
Remind me that learning is always a road,
A one day, one step at a time road,
A road we make together.
Awesome poem, bark, bark. We can’t wait to see more Huskies poetry.
Happiness in Dark Times – Here’s Wise Cat Bodie’s Advice on Life to Inspire for the ACE Poetry Contest
By Bodie, Oakland International High School’s ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, and Jamilah, OIHS’s Poetry Ambassador
I’m Wise Cat Bodie.
Cats are wise. That’s why we make great poets.
J.J. is wise. That’s why she makes a great Poetry Ambassador for Oakland International High School (OIHS.)
Together we’ve written this poem to inspire our OIHS poetry students to “give your energy to what matters now and move forward.” Oh, and hopefully inspire them to learn about, love and write poetry. That combination is purrfect.
A Wise Cat “Bodie”
Hey, I’m Bodie. I’m a cat,
Living my normal life with my master.
There are things you’d love to hear about me and my master.
Opening my eyes for a new day with my old soul.
When I walk into the room, all I can see is my old space.
Goals are gold to me.
Seeing my master speaking to a cat is weird to me.
Meow, meow, meow is my word.
Humans live with millions of words.
Creatures like us live with one word.
Loving you is as beautiful as the ocean view.
Sometimes I lied and said I was busy. I was busy but not in the way most people understand.
I was taking deeper breaths. I was busy silencing irrational thoughts.
I was busy calming a racing heart. I was busy telling myself I am okay.
Sometimes this is my busy and I will not apologize for it.
Someone once told me not to bite off more than I chew.
I said I’d rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity.
Let me tell you something about life. Your new life is going to cost you your old one.
It is going to cost you your comfort zone and your sense of direction.
It is going to cost you relationships and friends.
It is going to cost you being liked and understood.
It does not matter.
The people who are meant for you are going to meet you on the other side.
Instead of being liked, you’re going to be loved.
You’re going to build a new comfort zone around the things that actually move you forward.
Instead of being understood, you’re going to be seen.
Also, what happened, has happened.
You can’t change that.
Give your energy to what matters now and move forward.
Wise is something unique and I’m a wise cat giving you my experience.
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light as the sun when it comes out for the new day.
Arf, Arf! It’s National Poetry Month Plus ACE Poetry Contest Month
By Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, assisted by Martha Sessums, ACE President, who types faster than Riley
Arf. Riley here. The ACE Poetry Contest Mascot.
April is my favorite month. Not only is the sun shining more which feels so good when you’re taking a nap on the front porch but it’s National Poetry Month. That great month when we learn about and share poetry.
Plus, we write poetry for the ninth annual ACE Poetry Contest. And who’s the ACE Poetry Contest Mascot? It’s me again. Arf. Arf.
All the ACE Learning Center schools joined the contest, and each school has a cool mascot that represents the spirit of the schools. Let’s meet the mascots, then we’ll get to the poetry contest details.
Alpha Public Schools – Why, it’s me, Riley. I’ve been the Alpha mascot for all these nine years. Awesome.
Hi there. I’m Max, SFIHS ACE Poetry Contest Mascot. They call me a legend.
San Francisco International High School – Max, the Husky, is a legend. Not only is the official SFIHS school mascot a husky, but Max was probably the inspiration. He’s a buddy with one of the school’s first-year teachers and still hangs around campus. Quite the legend. Welcome Max.
I’m Bodie, Poetry Contest Mascot for SFIHS. Getting inspired to write poetry.
Oakland International High School – As we all know, there’s always a cat(s) involved in the ACE Poetry Contest and Bodie is OIHS’s cat mascot this year. So nice to have you working the contest, Bodie, and we look forward to your catteral poems.
Now let’s talk rules. My favorite part about the rules is that they are pretty loose. The only non-loose part is that the winners win MONEY. Something we can all use nowadays. Here are the rules:
? Poetry topic is open. Any topic. Your choice. Your teacher will guide you as you learn about the different types of poetry.
? Judging rules and choosing the winners are managed by each school.
? First Place receives $100. Second Place receives $75 and Third Place receives $50. Prizes will be in the form of a credit card gift card so you can spend it anywhere.
? Any type of poetry is eligible. Haiku, slam, limerick, free verse, qauīdah, epic, even doggerel, which is my favorite. Or catteral, which is Bodie’s favorite.
That’s it. Those are the rules. Not as complicated as the house rules that owner John makes me follow. Sit. Stay. Come. No. Mostly “no!” nowadays.
A “good dog” response gets me treats, but here is where you get poem treats. You can sign up for a Poem-a-Day email and learn about poetry. Plus, April 29 is Poem in Your Pocket Day where you can share poems with any one you meet – in person (masked and socially distanced, of course) or virtually.
More blogs and poems from your mascots will happen all month so be on the lookout. Plus, the winner’s poems will be posted on the ACE Spectrum blog with lots of fanfare.
Then there’s social media sharing. Be sure to use #ACEPoetryContest, #NationalPoetryMonth, #pocketpoem, #NPM21 or any of your social media faves. Anyone want to post a poem on TikTok?
Check out the blog all month long and remember – treat yourself to a poem. Arf.