Poetry is elementary for Mtn. Avenue students

"Well I stood up straight and spoke clearly," said second-grader Daniel Allard, explaining the secret to a good poetry reading. "I said the words like 'BANG' and 'SWISH' really loud."

Allard, who read "Hockey Time," his ode to the aggressive sport, was one of the celebrated poets from Mountain Avenue Elementary who performed art for parents and friends Friday night at Higley's Coffee House in La Cañada Flintridge.

The second to sixth-grade students are part of the extended learning program, the school's after-school day care program.

Unlike other after-school programs, the extended learning programs offered by the Glendale Unified School District employ certified teachers and include a curriculum that follows state standards, said program teacher Laurie Novak, who has been with the program for two years. The after-school program just does it in a more relaxed setting than the traditional classroom and tends to include more art and performing.

Novak has had the students writing poetry since the beginning of the year. She told them to choose one or two of their favorite poems for the Friday night reading. Last year Novak transformed the school's cafeteria into a coffee house, however this year her friends at Higley's offered their business for the read.

The students wrote about what they knew, from Allard's ode to hockey, to what the future may bring.

Novak gave some suggestions to those who had writer's block. "She said to write about what we could do or what we wanted to do. I wrote about the future," said fourth-grader Shayna Howitt of her poem "The Future."

Poets, such as fourth-grader Marisa Gonzales, enjoy writing. "It makes me feel like I'm expressing my feelings." Her inspiration for "My Small Friend" came from her dog, Sir Winston of Winthorp.

Other young poets searched their souls, like Ashley Fernandes, grade 6, who wrote two poems: "Love vs. Hate" and "Changing," which is about growing up.