ALTON - One of St. Mary’s Middle School’s “best and brightest,” Olivia Gehrig, recently was selected as a winner of the 2016 7GP 7th Grade Poetry Contest in St. Louis.
The competition is nationally based with entries from all over the country, so it is quite a prestigious honor, said her teacher, Nina Phillips.
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Phillips, Gehrig’s literature teacher, submitted the poem and it was published in the “Poetry on Our Terms: Winners of the 2016 7GP 7TH Grade Poetry Contest,” foreword by famous U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.
“Writing comes so easily to Olivia,” her teacher said. “The poem was fabulous. She is extremely bright. This is a very competitive contest. Her poem was so right on and it comes so easily to her. She can write in formal or creative fashion. She definitely has a gift.”
Gehrig was invited to attend the award ceremony held at the History Museum in St. Louis. She received a copy of the book, an award certificate , and $25 cash. The book is now also in the library at St. Mary’s Middle School in Alton.
Olivia’s poem “Fashion” was submitted to the annual contest by her literature teacher, Mrs. Phillips.
Olivia’s poem reads:
Fashion
People dressed in black
Shirts, jeans, and shoes
Do have a knack
For singing the blues.
But those covered in yellow
Clothing shining bright,
Are quite mellow
And provide a dim light.
And the politicians,
Their outfits grey,
Do enjoy petitions
That do what they say.
But the point is that the clothes you wear
Usually reflect what your feelings bear.
Olivia Gehrig
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