Student Wins National Poetry Contest
Sean McElligott considered himself a typical seventh grader at St. Michael School, but on Friday, Febuary 26th, he became an award winning poet! Sean had a simple yet complex assignment from his science teacher, Mrs. Ramig, to write a poem about saving the Earth. Sean placed 2nd in the National Lights for Learning "Wild About Poetry" contest. Until February 26th, he had no idea that his classmates, teachers and parents, Dawn and Bill McElligott, planned a special award ceremony at school to announce and celebrate accomplishment.
Mr. John Koslowski, from the Lights for Learning program, presented Sean his award and told him, "You helped educate the public." Koslowski told the group gathered to honor Sean, "In Illinois alone, there were over 200 poems submitted." When Sean was asked what inspired him, he said, "Most people don't realize when they throw something away and it is not recycled, what it's doing to the Earth."
The poetry contest followed a school-wide fundraiser to sell energy efficient light bulbs. St. Michael School has been one of the top sellers of light bulbs for the past three years. Chad Bulman, Program Manager of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, said, "You're not selling junk food that is filling up our landfills. You're helping the environment."
Here is Sean's award winning poem.
You go outside and what do you see
A beautiful place held down by gravity
This place is only a one of a kind
So love her now and keep an open mind
When someone throws a wrapper on the ground
They think ‘hey, well, they're all around'
But just one wrapper can cause the fall
of one magnificent waterfall
We must stop the madness, there's no time to wait
Mother Earth's been here a trillion years
and never once has she ever complained
Now she's crying out in a desperate plea
Oh please Oh please help me
It's our job as people to answer this call
So take my hand Just you and me
One will lead to two or three
Then we'll stand together and break down this wall
The possibilities are endless while we're hand in hand
So come together and let's make our Stand
Sean McElligott
St. Michael School, Orland Park
