WOW...Our Poet

Early in December, I picked Katie up from school and she was wearing a gold medal. We were thrilled to learn that Katie won the Literature Reflections contest at her school in the K-2 group. The theme was "WOW" and she wrote a poem about Alaska. She was ecstatic too but was surprised that her poem (which she didn't think was that great) won, but her picture (which she thought was wonderful) did not win.

Some fun quotes from that day:

• "I was just so happy when the principal called my name and said I won." - Katie


• "I just knew that poem would win!" -Grandma Cragun (when we read it to her before she turned it in, my mom predicted that would be the winning poem)


• "The teachers and kids around me gave me dirty looks and told me to 'shhh'. We were supposed to hold our applause until the end, but I stood up and started cheering. I couldn't help it. I was just so happy for her!" - Matthew, when asked what he thought when they called Katie's name at the Reflections award assembly.

That night, Katie was thrilled to ride in a horse-drawn carriage on the Ephraim City Council float with Grandpa Cragun. (The boys rode on the Holiday Gift Boutique... which won honorable mention BTW.) She also had her picture in the newspaper. Here is her award winning poem.

Alaska

We sailed on a ship for seven days.
We stayed in a cabin for seven days.
It was a long ways!
When we got there we walked all day.

We saw a bear. It had black hair.
We saw it over the river there.
We saw a person building totem poles.
The stories of the totem poles
I liked them well.

The whales we saw on the boat ride
And the sea lions we also saw there
Made me feel cool inside.
Alaska makes me feel WOW!!