By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Claire Li
During these difficult and isolating times, it is often hard to find hope and maintain a positive outlook. Aiming to help promote a sense of hope throughout their community, Arcadia Unified School District’s (AUSD) Digital Communications Internship (DCI) students hosted a poetry contest centered around the theme of “hope.”
The idea to create a district-wide poetry contest for the Keepin’ it Arcadia student podcast created by DCI first came about during a weekly DCI meeting back in March.
Sofia Nagy, a junior at Arcadia High School who helped lead the construction of the poetry contest, mentioned, “The idea of a poetry contest was the fruit of collective creativity. I brought poetry into the conversation, then DCI transformed it into a possible and fun project to do, and it happened.” Nagy added, “This district-wide poetry contest really was an outcome of two things: the first one being the confusing, panic-inducing, and overwhelming news about COVID-19, and the second one being that, during an online DCI meeting, I mentioned that poetry is one of my favorite things I’ve been doing while staying at home.”
DCI decided on the theme of hope because, as Nagy noted, “Hope is something that has kept us pushing onward, and keeps us going day to day. When in utter fear and incertitude, sometimes we can forget that there is such a thing as hope — so, we need a reminder. This poetry contest is meant to be that reminder.”
Middle school and high school students throughout AUSD were invited to share their poems about hope. The students were encouraged to create acrostic poems spelling out “hope” or “hopeful,” judged by DCI podcast members on their creativity, originality, clarity, and congruence to the theme.
Winners of the contest not only had their poems read on the Keepin’ it Arcadia Podcast broadcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, but also had the chance to get their work published on the Sienna Solstice, a magazine co-created by two Arcadia seniors.
Three middle school and three high school students were awarded, including Arcadia High junior Maureen Zhang. “I think hope is extremely important during a situation like this, in which an unprecedented pandemic makes way into an already prejudiced world,” Zhang said. “In writing the poem, I hope for a brighter future of genuine equality between people of all ethnicities.”
Speaking about the goals of the poetry contest, Nagy noted that one objective was “for students to talk and listen to other students.” Another goal was to emphasize the theme of the contest, helping spread the importance and possibility of hope throughout Arcadia. Nagy added, “Regardless of how bad a situation may be, having hope is the start to making a situation better. We want to get that message across.”
