MARLBORO — There may be a future poet laureate among the talented children at the Marlboro Elementary School who are learning to write poems with the assistance of award-winning poet Darcy Cummings.
Cummings is the author of several books, including “The Artist as Alice,” which won the Bright Hills Press book competition, and “Singing a Mass for the Dead.” She is a writing professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and at Rutgers University, Camden.
The Poet-in-Residence program began at the school on Jan. 7 with Cummings visiting one class in each grade level for an hour a day. After four consecutive days of workshops each pupil had a poem completed and ready for publication. The students completed three poems but were asked to select one to use in a literary magazine that is being planned.
On Jan. 12, Cummings helped pupils in Sarah Humphries’ fourth grade class edit their work. Having reviewed the students’ poems, Cummings offered suggestions and challenged the children to find ways to enhance their work. She suggested adding juicy words and similes to bring the text to life and she worked in small groups with the children to demonstrate what she was teaching.
Humphries said nothing like this program has been done before at the school. Having Cummings instruct the pupils in poetry brought about an interesting way to incorporate instruction into devices such as onomatopoeia, the teacher said.
In April, the Marlboro Elementary School will publish its first literary magazine crafted and designed by students. Humphries explained that since one class per grade level met with Cummings, the students in her class will be visiting the other fourth-graders to share what they have learned. The students will share their favorite moments of Cummings’ visit, while the teachers will work with pupils on the mechanics of writing and revising their work. Once this task is completed all of the students in the school will have at least one poem ready for publication in the literary magazine.
“They’re really excited about being published,” Humphries said.
The literary magazine is part of a grant awarded by the Marlboro Educational Foundation, an organization dedicated to enriching the education of Marlboro students. The grant also paid for Cummings to come to the school. The grant was awarded to Virginia McDonald, whose third grade reading enrichment students, along with Mara Knobloch’s fifth grade reading students, will serve as the editors and publishers of the literary magazine.
Art teacher Maria Milazzo will assist the pupils illustrate the magazine.
As the children reviewed their poems, some of the youngsters found it hard to decide which one they wanted to have published. The students let their imagination run wild and wrote about imaginary beasts that they created.
Colin Scalea and Cameron Caorsi teamed up to write about a lightningator, a creature that is part alligator and part lightning bolt. The imaginative duo explained that a lightningator feasts on items such as electric meat.
Another poem topic taught the pupils about the use of sarcasm and irony. The youngsters were asked to compose an apology poem about something that deep down they were not sorry about.
Humphries said one pupil addressed her to apologize for not completing a homework assignment. The student wrote that they meant to finish the homework assignment but was so caught up in beating a video game and achieving a top score that the school work just did not get done.
Fourth-grader Nicole Cantor said she enjoyed having Cummings teach the class.
“For the past couple years I haven’t really learned about poetry and now I am learning something new,” Nicole said.
Poetry is a good source of relaxation, according to Nicole, who said it is an avenue for someone to express his or her feelings.
Mikayla Berk said she already loves writing and spends time writing short stories at home.
“Now I get to write poems and I’m usually not good at poetry, but now I’m learning about it more,” Mikayla said.
Some of the pupils found editing their work to be a tedious part of the creative process.
Cummings assured the youngsters that as time went on, revising their work would not be such a daunting task and revealed that she enjoys revising her work.
Cummings told the students she was impressed as the time she spent with them passed quickly and the children never lost interest in their projects. She told the budding poets that if they were inspired and wrote other poems they could ask their teacher to forward them to her and she would look them over.
Before leaving, Cummings wished the students luck. She said that if any of them ever attend a college where she teaches, she might not remember their faces but she will most likely remember them by their poems.
Contact Rebecca Morton at [email protected]