Fifth-graders at Meadowbrook Elementary School were recognized for their poetry in the 30th Annual Walt Whitman Birthplace Association Young Poets Contest.
The anthology written by Valerie Kasper's class, titled "Poems Inspired by Walt Whitman," won the fifth-grade category. In addition, the poems of Madison Dunn, Nicholas Gambina and Shivein Sharma merited first place in the 5-6 grade category.
Meadowbrook's fifth-grade class, alongside the other winning poets, was honored in an awards ceremony at the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site in South Huntington on June 5, where they met poet in residence Robert Pinsky, who encouraged them to keep writing and creating.