Buford City Schools celebrates Black History Month with an annual poetry contest spotlighting the writing talents of its middle and high school students.
The purpose of the contest is “to recognize and honor African Americans’ contributions to American History as well as to highlight the creative writing abilities of our students,” says Dr. Lacrecia Smith, director of Curriculum and Instruction and Diversity and Inclusion manager for BCSS.
This year’s poetry contest winners are sixth grader Olivia Jones for “A Tree From Up Above”; seventh grader Claire Neubauer for “You’re There For Me”; eighth grader Jennifer “Jae” Tudor for “Voice”; and 11th grader Hailey Conwell for “Words of Wisdom.”
The winners presented their poems at the Buford Board of Education on Feb. 20 and each student received a $100 gift card.
The poetry contest, now in its third year, is open to students in the sixth grade through 12th grades and is judged by a team of language arts teachers from Buford Middle School and Buford High School who use a rubric to score entries.
“We have some incredibly talented writers at both BMS and BHS,” Smith said. “Each year their poems are a direct reflection of the students’ love for expressing themselves through writing.”
Read the students’ poems in the March print edition of the North Gwinnett Voice.
