A Whistler Secondary School student recently won second place in a National Student Poetry Contest.
Samuel Baker, a Grade 9 student, took home the $60 prize, a certificate, and a copy of the book Intuition, which features his award-winning poem, The Point.
Baker’s poem stemmed from a poetry assignment in Johanne Nielsen’s English class in which students were asked to use poetic devices and imagery to “paint a picture using their words.”
To that end, The Point describes Baker’s blissful morning walk with his dog to Alta Lake.
“I’m very proud that Sam can share his piece with a larger audience than just within our class,” Nielsen says in an email. “By entering this contest, his poem will be published in a poetry anthology, Intuition: A Collection of Poems Written by Young Canadians (Students in Grades Nine through Twelve). This anthology can be purchased online to support this free national contest aiming to inspire young writers across Canada.”
The contest is hosted by Polar Expressions Publishing, which aims to “provide a tool to educators in promoting poetry with the goal of inspiring lifelong enchantment,” according to the release.
The contest received entries from more than a thousand teachers across Canada.
