Students at the Community School were inspired to write poetry and take photos as they explored the meaning of home around the valley.
To 9- through 12-year-olds, home is a sense of freedom, a capsule for memories, and a sheltering arm.
These distinctive perspectives are all part of an exhibit of original poetry and photography by fourth- through sixth-graders from the Methow Valley Community School, on view at Rocking Horse Bakery in Winthrop through the end of March.
The theme of the academic year at the school is “What is Home?” Reflecting on that question through writing and art is one way the students are answering it, said part-time teacher David LaFever.
Students took weekly field trips in the fall to places around the valley, including the Methow River, Lewis Butte and Lester Road, to study river systems, beavers and fire ecology, said LaFever. They paired this with a unit on poetry in the watershed, reading poems by William Stafford that appear on placards throughout the area.
Students were encouraged to reflect on their experiences both in the field and at school. When they looked over their material in class, they saw how well it summed up their individual views of home and nature and decided to look for a way to share it with the community.
This isn’t the first time sixth-grader Meaghan Robinson’s poetry has had a wider audience. Her poem “Our River” was selected through a nationwide student poetry contest for publication in a book entitled “2017 Rising Stars Collection.”
The students edited their own poems and helped edit one another’s work. By the time he did a final edit, LaFever said there wasn’t much to change. “They haven’t made a formal study of poetry — it’s more as a means of expression,” he said.
The editing process for poems is easier than for essays, said Robinson. “Poems can be what they want to be. The punctuation doesn’t have to be normal or to follow standard rules,” she said.
Poetic photography
Sixth-grader William Halpin experiences the world through photography rather than verse. “His poetic voice is photography,” said LaFever.
Halpin said he’s loved using cameras since he was 3. Getting more sophisticated equipment — a point-and-shoot camera last year and a more-professional-level SLR this year — has made it possible to capture what he sees in his mind, he said.
Halpin often plans his shots, studying when and where the light will be and choosing a spot for his tripod. But the photos in the bakery exhibit — unique perspectives on the river and trees, and a black-and-white detail of hardware on the suspension bridge near Mazama — were spontaneous, said Halpin.
He would explore the area, looking for an interesting composition or something striking in the foreground, while his classmates wrote poetry, he said. “Usually the first or last shots are the best — if I think too much, it ruins it,” he said.
Most of the young poets also did little formal planning. “I made up part of the poem ‘Freedom’ in my head while I was going to sleep and I wanted to write it down. It just came to me,” said fourth-grader Suzannah Bacon.
The same thing happens for sixth-grader Ila Newman. “They just kind of come when they want to. If you don’t write it down, it just goes away,” she said.
Even the way fifth-grader Violet Chrastina describes her poetry is poetic. “This morning, I wrote two poems. The door just opened and they flew in,” she said.
“I think it’s so cool that a 12-year-old is such a good photographer — and that 9- to 12-year-olds are such good poets,” said LaFever.
Sixth-grader William Halpin was drawn to the patterns on Tawlks-Foster Suspension Bridge near Mazama for his photo “Suspended.”
