For Women’s History Month at CVMS, seventh grade students in Nicole Bobby, Katherine. Cavallucci, and JoanMarie Dragonetti’s ELA classes wrote stanzas based on influential women, modeled after the poem “For Teenage Girls” by Clementine von Radics.

 

 

 

Students chose to research and write about historical figures such as Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, and Marie Curie along with modern inspirations like Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark, and Dolly Parton. Then they ended with a memorable quote by their subject.

 

 

In her stanza about Marilyn Monroe, student Hannah Buyukdag wrote:

“When you are 18 years old,
you shatter the walls of the factory,
stepping into the dazzling blaze of Hollywood.
You are more than curves they consumed,
a fragile soul adrift in a world too cold.
Your body, a canvas painted by others’ hands,
a silenced cry behind the bright voice.
You are a star, burning fiercely in the Hollywood sky.
Burning brighter than the sun, a radiant trail,
guiding future souls, where dreams flourish.”

Monroe’s quote: “A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.”

This activity was the culmination of the classes’ Poetry March Madness Bracket.

 

Over the course of two weeks, students read and analyzed eight poems and then voted for their favorite. The poem “Touchscreen” by Marshall Davis Jones was the clear favorite, winning 57% of the votes.

 

Next up, students will be introduced to the award winning poem, “Dear Basketball,” by Kobe Bryant and write passion poems of their own.

 

 

Enjoy some of the poems, spoken by the students who wrote them, by clicking here.