Mosaic 2012 Mosaic Award Writing Kindergarten Grade 5 Can You Guess Me? Adults tend to like me. Teachers always enjoy me before school. Sugar makes me sweet. I admire cream and milk even more. Donuts are my best friends. We get along so very well. PLEASE don t spill me! I m very, very HOT! I m usually brown But sometimes I am tan. Ice makes me cool And I make soda so jealous. I have lots of caffeine It comes from my beans. But don t drink me too late Because I might keep you awake. If you haven t guessed me by now I am my teacher s beloved Coffee! K. F., Downey School Second Place My Baby Sister One night, my Mom, my baby sister and I were sleeping. Somebody was there too. I think it was my Mom s friend. My baby sister was sleeping on the couch with my Mom s friend. While he was sleeping on the couch, he accidently rolled over and my baby sister got hurt really bad. She was crying so loud like the sound of the television turned up real high. I was still sleeping in my bed when the sound woke me up and I heard her Caption describing picture or crying. My Mom called 911 right away and an ambulance came to our house. But graphic. it was too late. By the time the ambulance came, my little sister had passed away. The police were trying to arrest my Mom s friend but my Mom told them it was an accident. I will always remember and miss my baby sister. I loved her very much. M. S., Downey School
Third Place I am Poem I wonder if I will pass every grade I hear people say I will flunk every grade I see them tell other people I will fail I want them to stop saying that I pretend to ignore it but I can t I feel like I am dumb I touch my head with worry I worry that I will fail I cry when I go home I understand that they don t like me I say I don t care I dream that I flunk all the time I try to tell people but they just don t listen I hope they will stop J. M., Ben Franklin I am Poem I wonder if it is going to snow I hear we are going to have snow I see snow clouds I want three feet of snow I pretend to be a snowman I feel real cold I touch my hat I worry I might melt I cry every day and night I understand we might not get any snow I say pretty please snow I dream of snow I try to pray for snow I hope I see snow this winter C. N., Ben Franklin Grades 6 - Grade 8 The one who helped her through I felt weird, awkward and out of place at the seemingly cold table. That simple twenty-second phone call altered the complete vibe of the room. Tears welled up in my mother s eyes. All of the laughter vanished with in an instance. Gradually, I slowly proceeded to where my mom sat and my brother followed. We wrapped our arms around her shaken body as she mourned and wept and mourned. My mom had just lost her personal cookie baker, her personal wiser, more experienced friend and her personal secret teller. My mom had just lost her grandmother. During the car ride to the funeral, I started to feel some uneasiness. I realized that I would be walking into a room where people would cry and mourn, but I would not be one of them. A feeling of guilt started to rush over me as my dad parked the car. As I exited the car, I started to doubt my compassion because I was at one of my family s funeral and I wasn t distressed. Even though I have never met her, I still felt that I should feel pain inside of me. As we approached the doors, I was filled with mixed emotions. Inept feelings started to set over me, but I just focused on finding my mom. All I wanted to do is demonstrate to her that I would support her through this burdensome time. When I opened the door and felt the cold air rush over my face, I felt the depressed, glum and saddening emotion. I scanned the room eagerly looking for my mom. For quite some time I could not find her, but then I saw a woman in a black ruffle dress and I knew it was her. As I walked over to my mom, I noticed a shiny purple coffin sitting in front of the room. Knowing that my great grandmother sat in that coffin, made my stomach squirm, but I just brushed it off and went with my mom. As I took my seat, I started to hear sniffles coming from the woman behind me. I held my mom s hand and looked over to her and noticed tears started to Caption describing picture or graphic. form in her eyes as well, so I started grasping her hand tighter. I gazed around the room looking for more emotions on people s faces. While the pastor got more into detail about my great grandmother, more tears started to fall from people s faces. My eyes slowly went down to their hands and I realized that no one was holding their hands. I looked at my mom and smiled knowing a person who is willing to share the pain with her was holding her hand. As we proceeded to the limos that were transporting us to the luncheon, I saw an elderly woman enter the limo with us. I was Page 2
wondering who she was until my mom said, Hi great aunt Mary. As I looked over, I saw my mom having a discussion with her. Mary could not really hear that well so my mom had to speak louder. Even though the loud words pierced my ears, Mary seemed comforted by my mom s words. At the luncheon we were approached with more elderly people. My mom treated them with kindness and respect as she did for her great aunt Mary. I noticed each elderly person would come up to my mom sad and distraught, but they would leave a little more content. That s when I realized that I did more than come to a funeral. I made someone s day brighter. It doesn t matter how much I helped them or how much better they felt, the fact I could make a positive impact in someone s day is more than enough for me. Immediately after leaving the church, I started to reflect on the events that happened earlier that day. I thought about how I first felt when I walked into the church, how I helped support my mom and how my mom interacted with the elders. I changed when I walked out that church. Thoughts appeared in my mind about how I could use that lesson I learned in my everyday life. I understand now that I am able to use the lesson to help my family, friends and who ever else needs help with one of life s many difficulties. That day will affect me and other people for the rest of my life. Thinking back on that day, I am reassured that I have changed for the better. I feel confident that I now know assisting other people is more important than thinking of yourself. A. E., Math Science Academy Second Place My Little Cousin Yadaya Beautiful! Smart! Made me laugh! My little cousin Yadaya is beautiful, smart and she always made me laugh when no one else could. Although it hurts me to say she is no longer living, I m going to tell you why. I miss her so much and it upsets me that I can t see her anymore. Until this day, I still can t go in to her room or even touch her things, because it s too painful. All you do is just hear silence, because there is no one in the room to make noise anymore. She died June 12, 2011 at Hershey medical center. I was so upset and I still am, but I guess I ll just have to except the fact that she s gone. In the beginning, I felt very heartbroken. Like a bag of chips that just got stepped on. All I could do was cry, and when I looked at her picture all I saw was the distant pain that she went through. My aunt cried for a long time and she still does cry because you never really get over your child s death. It took a while for her to calm down. Third, I always think about Yadaya and what it would be like if she was still here on earth with me and our family. Even though I know this will never happen, I still pray to God every night and to tell him how I feel. The really sad thing about her death is it was a day before her birthday and she was only 10 years old. But I do thank God for him helping my aunt during her weakest spot, even though it did have to cause her pain to get out of it. Next, Yadaya was a very good child and I miss her very much. Some days I can still hear my mom saying, hold on let me braid this last piece of hair real quick. It is very hard for me to accept that she s gone sometimes I know she s in a better place looking down on me. I love my little cousin so much and it hurts me to know that I will never see her again. Hopefully when my time comes to go with God she ll be there waiting on me with smiling eyes and a laughing mouth. Or maybe just maybe she will be calling my name and bringing me towards her. I know that God loves me enough to let me have this one wish. My one big, fat, juicy wish is to be able to see my little cousin one last time again. Finally, this experience is meaningful to me because it lets me know that life is too short to waste. It can help everyone know that death can take you at any age because life s not promised to us. It does not matter whether you re pure at heart or not. Take my little cousin Yadaya for example, she was so pure at heart she could have been an angel and she was only 10 years old when she died. It s going to be hard when it first happens but it s going to get easier with every step you take. So just remember never take life for granted and always keep those who you love in your heart, because one day you ll realize their never really gone, because you ll always have a piece of them inside of you, just like me and Yadaya. M. C., Camp Curtin Page 3
Third Place Black Beauty She stands in the night Like the lone wolf That stares deep Inside the soul Of its victims Nothing gets past her Like quick in the night She vanished. Nothing you can see I can t have you forever My black beauty. Until we meet again In the afterlife. J. V., Marshall Finalists Good or Evil J.H., Marshall Me, me, me N.P., Ben Franklin I Love You N.P., Marshall Spring Life Skills Class, Camp Curtin Questions Y.B., Ben Franklin Last Time D.P., Marshall As Time Flies By B.K., Ben Franklin Grade 9 Grade 12 Complications I really screwed up; maybe that s an understatement. Nothing can take back what I did, nothing matters now. If I keep this charade up I will lose everything. Not just my morality; but my sanity; and even more important than that her. That horribly beautiful day; when we thought we were invincible. We thought we could do this but I screwed up; no that s not even the word to describe it. I made everything that she was afraid of come true. Her parents will never trust me again, her best friend despises me and lastly she will never ever let me touch her again. Why did we have to meet? Why did I stand up for her when they were bullying her? Why did I fall in love with her? I ran out of my house, I couldn t stay there anymore. My mom and dad are so short sighted! Forbidding me to never see her again! How dare them! Everything is about title and privilege and money. I never wanted any of that, it never mattered to me. I always told myself that I was the odd one in the family because I never marveled in the fact that we had money, or all I had to do was snap my fingers and everything would be at my beck and call. I will admit that I used my charm to win the hearts of girls only to leave them hanging. I admit all of that to realize that I fell in love with a girl that I couldn t have, because of society standards. I just wish that my parents would just get off my back. Yes I am an actor, and yes she is an actress. Not matter that I am white and she is black. I know it is uncommon for a theatre company anywhere to cast two different races to play the lead roles in a play, especially when in the play they are so wrapped up in each other. This is more than a relationship, full of passion and heat and a kiss that would change their lives forever. Or should I say change our lives forever. The fact that we are in high school doesn t make the situation any better. But whoever said high school was full of easy situations? Or whether or not we chose to be in them? I look up into the sky as storm clouds begin to move in. I don t want to go back to my house so I look forward and start going into the woods behind my house. I could regret this decision later, but I don t care. I let me feet carry me forward to the one person that I only ever want to be with. I would do anything to keep her in my life.even if it cost me my own. J. P., SciTech Page 4
Second Place Page 2 Haunted House There was once a girl who moved to town and lived in a new house. When she got to school, everyone who knew where she lived said that it was haunted because there was a rumor that someone was killed in the house. The girl shook and was a little scared but then she went with the flow and she created ghost stories from her wild imagination. She created all sorts of things and wasn t scared anymore because everyone was scared of her stories. She was joyful and was thinking of the next story to tell in school but.. when she got closer to the house, there was a bad feeling and she was uneasy. When she arrived at her home, she had a really bad feeling about going in. She regretted telling those ghost stories but then she shook the feeling off and went inside. When she got inside, it was definitely not pleasant. It smelled horrible. The girl couldn t keep her composure and was wondering why it reeked so badly but then when she was looking around she saw blood flowing to the other room. She was surprised and couldn t believe her eyes and hoped for the best and hoped that it wasn t the blood of someone she knew. When she got closer to the pool of blood, the drenched room was covered up of her own mother s blood. She was lying on the floor without a breath of air coming from her mouth. She was but a dead corpse. The girl went crazy and couldn t believe her eyes and wished it was just a bad dream. She cried and cried but to no avail and that was when she got caught in the ghost s trap - a parallel world different from her own; a world where she couldn t come back to her own world. The girl was scared and thought why is this happening to me. A few minutes later, she lost her common sense and wasn t herself anymore. She promised herself that she was going to find the ghost to destroy it and send it to the afterlife. The girl s eyes were filled with evil and darkness. Then she started looking for the ghost but she wasn t the only one. The ghost was also looking for her. The ghost snuck up behind her and attacked her with his ultimate spirit energy. With the last link of life left, the girl found a grenade in her pocket and blew up the whole house with the ghost and herself. So then the dimension disappeared and everything in the world turned into a zombie zone. L B, John Harris Third Place Life s not that hard! Some people walk around upset and sad, But sometimes in life it s okay to get mad, No one s perfect and no life is great, Just keep your head focused straight, Life s not that hard Just put a smile on your face Show the world that you re winning this race Life is a big test To see if you re going to pass All you need to do is let go of your upsetting past People are here if you need to talk Just don t give up And remember one good thing- that Life isn t that hard. G H, John Harris Page 5
Faculty and Staff Mist Mist arrives Silently, Softly, Breezily Like an eagle in flight Gliding swiftly, Hovering below the treetops, Above the ground Then quietly, peacefully, mysteriously, Soars away Mrs. Laughman, Camp Curtin Second Place Lightning The lightning glides in with its tremendous wings. It covers the sky with its flashes and strikes, as it looks over the entire world with its great eyes of fire. It embarks slowly and silently as it brightens the sky with its wings of color. Mrs. Laughman, Camp Curtin Mosaic 2012 A collection of works from the students, faculty, and staff of The Harrisburg School District A Harrisburg Public Schools Foundation Project Page 6