Young East Haven Poets' Work Celebrated

The community room at Hagaman Memorial Library was brimming with fine poetry and poets this past Tuesday, when the library held its 11th Annual Student Poetry Awards Ceremony. At this year's event, the following award winners were announced.

First Place:

• Grade 3 - Ann Marie Abbott, St. Vincent de Paul School

• Grade 4 - Sophia Carlone, East Haven Academy

• Grade 5 - Jadon Lozada, Momauguin School

• Grade 6 - Tim Keth, Joseph Melillo Middle School

• Grade 7 - Joseph Milano, Joseph Melillo Middle School

• Grade 8 - Christy Robinson, St. Vincent de Paul School

Honorable Mentions:

• Grade 3 - Aimee Lynn DiVerniero, St. Vincent de Paul School

• Grade 4 - Ishan Patel & Michael Dion, both from St. Vincent de Paul School

• Grade 5 - Jianna Clement & Tattiana Mojica, both Momauguin School; Amanda Hopkins, Ross Woodward Magnet School of Classical Studies

• Grade 6 - Aldric Joseph & Jenna Souza, both Joseph Melillo Middle School

• Grade 8 - Scott Krebs & Jamie Ferrucci, both St. Vincent de Paul School

The contest was open to all students in grades 3-8 who reside in East Haven, including home-schoolers and magnet school attendees.

The contest was started in 2001 by children's librarian Carolyn Siedzik.

"And we dedicate it to her memory as she inspired young poets at Hagaman for almost 30 years," Sascha Gardiner, the current children's librarian, said.

Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. was on hand to present the awards and prizes. And shoreline poet Jason Marchi served as Master of Ceremonies.

Both had some words of wisdom for "our proudest resource, the wonderful kids of East Haven," Gardiner said.

Friends of the Library members Palma Ruggiero, Regina D'Addio and Lorraine Burns had the arduous task of choosing winning poems from more than 230 submissions, Gardiner said.

She added that they wish to send a hardy congratulations to all of the spectacular student poets.

This article first appeared in the East Haven Patch, April 30, 2012: http://easthaven.patch.com/articles/celebrating-poetry-month-in-style-at-hagaman-library

Young Poets Honored at Hagaman Library - Tenth Annual Award Ceremony

On Tuesday, April 12, more than fifty members of the community came together at Hagaman Memorial Library to celebrate National Poetry Month in a time-honored tradition. Fifteen East Haven students received awards at the Tenth Annual Student Poetry Contest and Celebration. Mayor April Capone presented certificates and prizes to the following talented young poets:

Grade 3
First Prize -
Ava Maselli, St. Vincent de Paul School
Honorable Mention -
Jaiden Colburn, St. Vincent de Paul School

Grade 4
First Prize -
Mary-Kate Torgerson, Momauguin School
Honorable Mentions -
Megan Roberts, Tuttle School
Maia Thompson, Momauguin School
Paige Maffeo, Tuttle School

Grade 5
First Prize -
Joseph Castellano, St. Vincent de Paul School
Honorable Mention -
Brianna Ferraiolo, St. Vincent de Paul School

Grade 7
First Prize -
Jordyn Zembrowski, Joseph Melillo Middle School
Honorable Mentions -
Cathy Esposito, Joseph Melillo Middle School
Miranda Garcia, East Haven Academy

Grade 8
First Prize -
Nick Andreozzi, East Haven Academy
Honorable Mentions -
Alicia Vitagliano, East Haven Academy
Megan Phillips, Joseph Melillo Middle School

Grade 10
Honorable Mention -
Rose Maldonado, East Haven High School

Congratulations to all of the winners, chosen from over 230 entries. Special thanks to the Friends of the Library, Lorraine Burns, Mary Polverari and Terry Sayles, who had the difficult task of judging.

2010 Poetry Winners Announced

Dear Poets, Teachers, School Librarians and Principals, Family and Friends,

We are delighted to announce this year's winners of Hagaman Memorial Library's 9th Annual Poetry Contest. Out of dozens of remarkable entries, our judges selected the following:

Grade 2
First Prize -
Jenna Nico, St. Vincent de Paul School
Honorable Mentions -
Ava Maselli, St. Vincent de Paul School
Kaitlyn Serafin, St. Vincent de Paul School
Richard Sheehan, St. Vincent de Paul School

Grade 3
First Prize -
Augustine Segger, St. Vincent de Paul School
Honorable Mentions -
Jillian Bauknecht, Carbone School
William Hinckley, St. Vincent de Paul School

Grade 4
First Prize -
James Sperduti, East Haven Academy
Honorable Mentions -
Amodeo Bugatti, Deer Run School
Louis Dang, Carbone School
Jessica Reid, East Haven Academy

Grade 5
First Prize -
Olivia Petroccio, Tuttle School
Honorable Mentions -
Nico Mark Argentino, Tuttle School
Jesse Ludington, East Haven Academy
Ashley Tatro, Tuttle School

Grade 6
First Prize -
Amy DeFilippo, East Haven Academy
Honorable Mention -
Olivia Pearl Iasparra, East Haven Academy

Grade 7
First Prize -
Tiffany Brady, East Haven Academy
Honorable Mentions -
Jakob Cronk, East Haven Academy
John Curren, JMMS
Aleksander Zbikowski, East Haven Academy

Grade 8
First Prize -
Miguel Gerena, East Haven Academy
Honorable Mentions -
Jake Colavolpe, East Haven Academy
Louie Crisci, East Haven Academy
Marissa DeMatteo, JMMS
Katie Hausler, East Haven Academy
Sarah Parlato, East Haven Academy

Congratulations to all of the winners and to everyone who entered a poem! You are awesome!

Special thanks to the Friends of the Library, Bettina Perito, Palma Ruggiero and Regina D'Addio, who had the arduous task of judging.

Please join us for a celebration (with refreshments, of course!) on Tuesday, April 13 at 3 pm when Mayor April will present awards to all of the winners. RSVP by calling the children's room at 203-468-3890 or online from the events calendar on the website or by emailing children's librarian, Sascha Gardiner: sgardiner@leaplibraries.org

Complete poetry booklet now online - almost!

Thanks for your patience, poets and readers! We're pleased to have nearly all of the First Place and Honorable Mention poets online in the booklet accessible from this link:
http://issuu.com/saschag/docs/8th_annual_poetry_contest_2009_-_part_1_

I say nearly all, because a crash of my old computer resulted in the loss of five of the scanned poems. I am working on getting duplicate copies of these superb poems from the parties involved, and will post them as soon as possible. Ah, technology!

In the meantime, we welcome you to share your poems right from this blog! We'll also be announcing a poetry event in the near future as part of our summer reading program, as well as lots of other fun events. The full summer schedule will be available by June 1.

If you have any questions, suggestions, impressions, please contact me: Sascha at 468-3890 or sgardiner@leaplibraries.org

Hagaman Library Children's Poetry Blog

Welcome to Hagaman Memorial Library Children's Poetry blog.

On Tuesday, April 14, we'll be celebrating 27 outstanding young poets from grades 2-8 and from throughout East Haven's school system and home schoolers. In truth, we are really celebrating all of the more than 300 poets who participated in our 8th Annual Poetry Contest.

Enjoy winning poems from the seven first place winners, as well as from twenty poets cited for Honorable Mention. Our goal is to share our poetry and our thoughts and feelings about poetry, and continue the tradition started by children's librarian Carolyn Siedzik in 2002 to rejoice in the beauty of words and the power of putting our thoughts and dreams on paper.

Check back soon to enjoy extraordinary poetry!