The imaginative visions of middle school students reveal their insights on the environment in Hawaii today, and their dreams for tomorrow.
The imaginative visions of middle school students reveal their insights on the environment in Hawaii today, and their dreams for tomorrow.
Twenty-five Hawaii middle school students, including two Hawaii Preparatory Academy students, were selected as top winners for their poems and short stories recently in the annual “My Hawai‘i” environmental writing contest for students in grades 6-8.
The contest is sponsored by the Pacific Writers’ Connection, the Hawaii Conservation Alliance and multiple Hawaii conservation agencies and organizations.
HPA’s Sofia Howard wrote a piece titled “A Spider’s Web” and William Wawner wrote “The Point of No Return.”
Their entries were selected from more than 500 submissions from throughout the state. An anthology with all 25 stories will be distributed to schools and libraries islandwide.
“Planet at the Crossroads” was chosen as the theme, to align with the 2016 International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress that will be in Honolulu in September.
The students’ writing represents personal reflections about the environment, cultural values, kuleana, stewardship and place-based writing that contributes to youth literature unique to Hawaii.