A Bergen County Eighth Grader's Poem Won a National Gold Medal

Each year, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards invites students in grades seven through 12 to submit art and writing work in 29 different categories for a chance to be selected as regional and national winners. Out of 350,000 annual student participants nationwide, less than 3,000 are selected as National Medalists for individual works or portfolios. Esmé Talenfeld, an eighth grader at Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ, won a Gold Medal this year. Her poem Thank You Mrs… was inspired by a former teacher’s willingness to share stories from her own childhood that created a culture of inclusivity in the classroom. Talenfeld wrote the poem in the "Write On!" elective class at Elisabeth Morrow.

Talenfeld spun the poem from an “I Am” writing exercise, where she was supposed to write about herself using a series of statements beginning with “I Am.” However, she took the piece in a different direction by writing about a beloved former teacher, which earned her the gold. She and other national medal winners will be honored in a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in June. Recent ceremony keynote speakers include Tim Gunn, Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Meryl Streep.