These poems are from Lelia Strozier's 1/2 period 6th grade students at John Muir Middle School in San Leandro, California. The students wrote their poems with California Poets in the Schools poet-teacher Kristin Palm.
My Awesome Advice
Help the homeless.
I know it will help America.
Please wear bulletproof armor.
Reduce oil spills in the ocean.
Everyone needs to drink water.
Stop the war.
It will bring peace.
Don’t start more wars.
Each person in the war suffers.
no more fishes in
the ocean makes me sad.
—Joanne Khong
Obama
Be better than Bush.
Don’t get too
much into power.
Don’t continue
the war.
Help the
world in need.
Feed the poor.
Give everyone a second
chance.
Don’t send troops
in for war.
Send them to help.
—Mark Moreno
Advice to Future President
Do not start
World War III.
Make peace with countries,
not chaos.
Gas prices are high;
lower them.
Help the homeless.
Don’t use money on
yourself unless
you earn it.
Help the animals
who are and aren’t
near to being extinct.
Don’t go deaf with firecrackers.
What will our
future be?
How will you
run the U.S.?
Make peace,
not chaos.
—Tommy Huang
Advice to Our Next President
Give food to poor people.
Lower gas prices.
Have faith in the world.
Bring peace to the world.
Be sure to listen to the
person not just look at a
person and say you’re a nice
person or you’re a mean person.
Be sure of what you do
before you do it.
Be confident in yourself.
Make the right choice,
not the wrong one.
—Kimberly Ayala
Advice to President Obama
Do not start war.
Help stop pollution.
Save the rainforest.
Remember to never
give up and always
try your best.
If you fail will
you quit? Will
you try again?
Will you help the
homeless and help
schools? I think
you will because
that’s why we
voted for you.
To make this a better world.
Go Obama!
—Reana Henson
Advice to the New President
Give money to the schools.
Help people in need.
Always treat people fairly.
Are you ready?
Ready to help the world?
Can you see through my eyes?
Can you see what I see?
When I look up in the
sky I see peace yet harm.
Stop polluting the bay
where we can waste the day.
Think about the mammals
or every living animal.
Can you walk in my shoes?
Feel what I feel?
I step outside in the cold
breeze and feel it running down
my spine. That is when I think,
Are you ready to be a
role model? But every more important,
are you ready to be the
next best president?
—Amber Mason
Friday, February 13, 2009
John Muir Middle School—Ms. Strozier, 4/5 period
These poems are from Lelia Strozier's 4/5 period 6th grade students at John Muir Middle School in San Leandro, California. The students wrote their poems with California Poets in the Schools poet-teacher Kristin Palm.
Obama Drama
You are president.
Why?
Because we voted
for you.
Why?
Because we hate war.
Peace & war,
love & hate.
We want peace,
but friendship is
as familiar as
is sun to flower,
fish to water.
Friendship & friendship
Obama or Bush.
You are president,
not him!
Make peace!
Hate war.
Hate is strong
and weak. But
together hating war
is easy. America
is strong under your
rein.
Good luck,
President Obama.
—Noel Ng
Barack Obama
Make peace to
the world.
Never fear the
pressure.
Believe in yourself.
Don’t strike at your
enemy. Make
right decisions
to your world
and you. Always
make time for
you and your
family. Be
proud that
you will make
the world an
awesome place.
You will make
history change.
Bring rich to the
poor.
You are our
world, Obama.
—Mimi Pham
Advice to Obama
Try to spend more time
with your family.
Always watch your back
in case someone tries
to kidnap you.
learn to speak in a
different language so
other people will
understand you.
Make doughnuts the
number one food in
the United States.
Give homeless
people a home.
Stop the war.
Don’t choose
rich people over
poor.
We are all human.
Don’t share your
rocky road ice
cream.
—Ashley Arias
Advice for President Obama
Help everyone who
is down.
Also spend time
with your family.
Remember cookies are awesome.
Go for what you believe in.
Make sure
no one brings you down.
Don’t let the
ice cream melt.
Love everyone that’s
around you.
Never give up.
Always watch your back.
Help regain the world.
—Marielle Lopez
Advice to President Obama
Be cooperative.
Don’t forget you’re the president.
Help the economy.
Help this country.
We are in your guidance
now. Don’t forget us.
This is our country, too.
All you have to do is
listen.
So, are you ready?
—Amanda Lo
Advice to Our President
Don’t forget to
be a wonderful president.
Please help out the
immigrants. Whenever you are
stressed we will help you
like you will help us.
Can you help our state
to be better and
to help others?
If you can, please
help out the homeless and
the prices like gas and tax.
We will always believe
in you.
—Emily Ochoa
Obama Drama
You are president.
Why?
Because we voted
for you.
Why?
Because we hate war.
Peace & war,
love & hate.
We want peace,
but friendship is
as familiar as
is sun to flower,
fish to water.
Friendship & friendship
Obama or Bush.
You are president,
not him!
Make peace!
Hate war.
Hate is strong
and weak. But
together hating war
is easy. America
is strong under your
rein.
Good luck,
President Obama.
—Noel Ng
Barack Obama
Make peace to
the world.
Never fear the
pressure.
Believe in yourself.
Don’t strike at your
enemy. Make
right decisions
to your world
and you. Always
make time for
you and your
family. Be
proud that
you will make
the world an
awesome place.
You will make
history change.
Bring rich to the
poor.
You are our
world, Obama.
—Mimi Pham
Advice to Obama
Try to spend more time
with your family.
Always watch your back
in case someone tries
to kidnap you.
learn to speak in a
different language so
other people will
understand you.
Make doughnuts the
number one food in
the United States.
Give homeless
people a home.
Stop the war.
Don’t choose
rich people over
poor.
We are all human.
Don’t share your
rocky road ice
cream.
—Ashley Arias
Advice for President Obama
Help everyone who
is down.
Also spend time
with your family.
Remember cookies are awesome.
Go for what you believe in.
Make sure
no one brings you down.
Don’t let the
ice cream melt.
Love everyone that’s
around you.
Never give up.
Always watch your back.
Help regain the world.
—Marielle Lopez
Advice to President Obama
Be cooperative.
Don’t forget you’re the president.
Help the economy.
Help this country.
We are in your guidance
now. Don’t forget us.
This is our country, too.
All you have to do is
listen.
So, are you ready?
—Amanda Lo
Advice to Our President
Don’t forget to
be a wonderful president.
Please help out the
immigrants. Whenever you are
stressed we will help you
like you will help us.
Can you help our state
to be better and
to help others?
If you can, please
help out the homeless and
the prices like gas and tax.
We will always believe
in you.
—Emily Ochoa
From Petaluma, California
This just in from Luci, an elementary school student in Petaluma, California:
Dear Barack Obama,
Hi, my name is Luci. I am nine years old and live in Petaluma, California, with my younger brother, Sam, who is five years old, and my mom and dad. You inspire my family and me tremendously. When I heard you won and you were president, I couldn’t hide the tears of happiness. Neither could my mom. For Christmas, my mom gave me and my brother fifty dollars each to donate to a charity or global warming fund or something like that. I gave my money to Al Gore’s global warming fund. Also, at my school, my friends and I are going to give a speech and maybe make a poster about our earth and how we need to take care of it. I hope all is well with your friends and family.
Your absolute #1 fan,
Luci
P.S. Make us proud. I know you will.
Dear Barack Obama,
Hi, my name is Luci. I am nine years old and live in Petaluma, California, with my younger brother, Sam, who is five years old, and my mom and dad. You inspire my family and me tremendously. When I heard you won and you were president, I couldn’t hide the tears of happiness. Neither could my mom. For Christmas, my mom gave me and my brother fifty dollars each to donate to a charity or global warming fund or something like that. I gave my money to Al Gore’s global warming fund. Also, at my school, my friends and I are going to give a speech and maybe make a poster about our earth and how we need to take care of it. I hope all is well with your friends and family.
Your absolute #1 fan,
Luci
P.S. Make us proud. I know you will.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Washington Elementary (Evanston, IL)
The poems below are from 5th grade students at Washington Elementary in Evanston, Illinois. Poet-in-residence Alice George led the kids in writing advice (and questions) to their own Illinois President. Classroom teachers Starenko, Drew, Losurdo and Herrera helped the kids publish their work.
Mr. Hope
Mr. Hope bring our troops home!
Can you juggle? Keep calm.
Think hard.
Mr. Hope fix Wall Street.
Are you excited?
Don’t let the KKK stop you.
STOP the violence.
You are as smart as five dictionaries.
A B C D E F G
you can help us in your sleep!
—Jordan
We Rule
Bring us peace
Remember
Kids have strong fresh minds
We can help you
Make the world powerful
Do you sing for joy?
When you’re bored
Do you focus?
Can you keep a steady book
On your head?
Let you work.
Let us work.
We will make the sun
Come out when it’s raining.
We will make the grass grow
When it snows.
Us cats are powerful.
—Liberty
Obama
What do you want
For this country
Or from it?
But remember
What this country can do
And what it can’t.
Can you force change?
Or will it come by itself?
Will you help the world?
Or hurt it?
Will other countries
Come to love you?
Or hate you?
Is this a new beginning?
Can you bring what you promised?
Help Hope Change
Never forget
—Nathan
You Can Do it!
Help the Economy,
And the Polar Bears.
If you miss Chicago,
Turn up the heat
When it’s hot,
And the A.C.
When it’s cold.
Make friends,
Not enemies
With foreign leaders.
You can do it,
You’ve made it this far.
Beijing
To London
To here.
Let’s try to get the Olympics this year.
When you were young
Did you ever dream
That you would be
The one who leads
Our society?
You can do it!
I know you can!!
—Zane
What do you want
For this country
Or from it?
But remember
What this country can do
And what it can’t.
Can you force change?
Or will it come by itself?
Will you help the world?
Or hurt it?
Will other countries
Come to love you?
Or hate you?
Is this a new beginning?
Can you bring what you promised?
Help Hope Change
Never forget
—Nathan
You Can Do it!
Help the Economy,
And the Polar Bears.
If you miss Chicago,
Turn up the heat
When it’s hot,
And the A.C.
When it’s cold.
Make friends,
Not enemies
With foreign leaders.
You can do it,
You’ve made it this far.
Beijing
To London
To here.
Let’s try to get the Olympics this year.
When you were young
Did you ever dream
That you would be
The one who leads
Our society?
You can do it!
I know you can!!
—Zane
A lot on your shoulders
Watch out for kids pulling your chair
or maybe pulling your hair.
Is your chair too big to sit in?
Are you used to being around a lot of men?
Lighten up poor people’s day.
Let them say “Obama’s our President, Yeah”
What about your daughters?
Will they meet your playmates
or when they go to school would they be late?
Or maybe you’re speeding up the pace?
I love your wonderful style
You remind me of my brother Kyle.
You’re both so special to me
Don’t you see?
You’re important and nice.
Your clothes have spice.
I hope you grow tall
and change the world.
Be safe, get along.
And...don’t forget to tell your girls.
—Bryanna
John Muir Middle School—Ms. Morris, 2/3 period
These poems are from Kellie Morris' 2/3 period 6th grade students at John Muir Middle School in San Leandro, California. The students wrote their poems with California Poets in the Schools poet-teacher Kristin Palm.
Advice to Our President
Don’t start wars.
Are you going to make
this world a
better place?
We’re glad that
you became president.
Bring the people
in Iraq home, where
they belong.
How does it feel
to be a president?
Make the world a
better one.
Are you going to lie
like our last president?
Stay strong and don’t
be like those
wimps that try to
make everything
right!
—Sandra Sefic
My Advice to Obama
Be careful.
Stop war.
People cry when their son dies.
We voted for you
to make a change.
We trust you.
Make our
future happy.
Are you going to let
people that don’t have papers
live here?
Are you going to change what we ask?
I am interested in you telling me
how you are going to make
that change.
—Katherine Martinez
Letter to President Obama
Always give people jobs
if they don’t have one.
Never give up on what
you’re doing.
Help stop the wars.
Give money to people
who are poor.
Make fast food places use
fresh stuff.
What are you going to name
your puppy?
Has your life changed being president?
Help us and make this world
go round.
—Heidi Macias
My Advice to Our Next President
Remember to stay away from people
who are dangerous.
Be careful in the streets.
Please lower gas prices.
Help us stop polluting our
oceans.
Take care of our sick animals.
What is one thing you can
change?
How do you feel being our
new president?
How do your girls feel being
the daughters of the president?
Oh, and I LOVE the color purple.
—Bianca Lopez
Our President . . . Obama
Obama, change the world!
Work on lowering the bills.
Obama, try to stop wars and
racism and gang violence.
If you change that you’ll make
the world safer than it is now!
Obama, Obama we believe in you.
Follow the people’s hopes and dreams
and change the world for once!
Obama, may I know, how are
you going to change the world?
You have got to make the
world a safer place to be in!
Obama, change the world
and make it safe!
—Diana Arciniega
Advice to President Obama
Make a new, huge skatepark.
If you had a monkey, what
would you name it?
Let kids paint the White House!
Make school days shorter.
Allow skateboarding in school.
Remember, most kids hate school!
Make time for more breaks.
Have fun being president!
Save trees, recycle homework.
Ignore all other advice besides mine!
I would like for you to do
a backflip off the White House!
Make me vice-president!
—Rodney Adamos
Advice for Obama
Help the homeless people.
Watch out for strangers.
Always share joy with other people.
Make the constitution better.
What do you want to do for
the country? Don’t forget
to help people. Help people
change laws that are unfair.
Make the gas prices lower.
But always give schools a higher
amount of money.
What does it feel like to
be president?
Make things 80 percent cheaper.
—Hilton Leung
Advice to Our President
Don’t start wars.
Are you going to make
this world a
better place?
We’re glad that
you became president.
Bring the people
in Iraq home, where
they belong.
How does it feel
to be a president?
Make the world a
better one.
Are you going to lie
like our last president?
Stay strong and don’t
be like those
wimps that try to
make everything
right!
—Sandra Sefic
My Advice to Obama
Be careful.
Stop war.
People cry when their son dies.
We voted for you
to make a change.
We trust you.
Make our
future happy.
Are you going to let
people that don’t have papers
live here?
Are you going to change what we ask?
I am interested in you telling me
how you are going to make
that change.
—Katherine Martinez
Letter to President Obama
Always give people jobs
if they don’t have one.
Never give up on what
you’re doing.
Help stop the wars.
Give money to people
who are poor.
Make fast food places use
fresh stuff.
What are you going to name
your puppy?
Has your life changed being president?
Help us and make this world
go round.
—Heidi Macias
My Advice to Our Next President
Remember to stay away from people
who are dangerous.
Be careful in the streets.
Please lower gas prices.
Help us stop polluting our
oceans.
Take care of our sick animals.
What is one thing you can
change?
How do you feel being our
new president?
How do your girls feel being
the daughters of the president?
Oh, and I LOVE the color purple.
—Bianca Lopez
Our President . . . Obama
Obama, change the world!
Work on lowering the bills.
Obama, try to stop wars and
racism and gang violence.
If you change that you’ll make
the world safer than it is now!
Obama, Obama we believe in you.
Follow the people’s hopes and dreams
and change the world for once!
Obama, may I know, how are
you going to change the world?
You have got to make the
world a safer place to be in!
Obama, change the world
and make it safe!
—Diana Arciniega
Advice to President Obama
Make a new, huge skatepark.
If you had a monkey, what
would you name it?
Let kids paint the White House!
Make school days shorter.
Allow skateboarding in school.
Remember, most kids hate school!
Make time for more breaks.
Have fun being president!
Save trees, recycle homework.
Ignore all other advice besides mine!
I would like for you to do
a backflip off the White House!
Make me vice-president!
—Rodney Adamos
Advice for Obama
Help the homeless people.
Watch out for strangers.
Always share joy with other people.
Make the constitution better.
What do you want to do for
the country? Don’t forget
to help people. Help people
change laws that are unfair.
Make the gas prices lower.
But always give schools a higher
amount of money.
What does it feel like to
be president?
Make things 80 percent cheaper.
—Hilton Leung
John Muir Middle School—Ms. Morris, 4/5 period
These poems are from Kellie Morris' 4/5 period 6th grade students at John Muir Middle School in San Leandro, California. The students wrote their poems with California Poets in the Schools poet-teacher Kristin Palm.
Advice to Obama
Will you help the homeless?
Make this world better?
Stay strong.
Please lower gas prices.
Can you destroy guns
so the world can be better?
Don’t forget to help all
states and continents.
Always listen when you are
at meetings.
I would love to be friends
with your daughters.
—Darian Denard
Advice to Our Next President
Never start wars with people.
Help our economy out of its
downslope before it gets worse.
Help bail out the auto companies
before they fail and close.
Help the homeless by giving food
to them and a place to
stay warm.
Help states like mine that
are running out of money.
Hopefully everything will get better.
Will you help the places that
are failing?
—David Salminen
Advice to the President
Don’t start any wars.
Do everything you said you’re
going to do.
Don’t raise gas prices.
Don’t feed a mouse a cookie.
What is your favorite color?
Who is your best friend?
Did you always want to be
president, even when you were
a child?
My favorite thing of 2009
so far is you, Barack Obama,
being president.
Always be prepared for the unexpected.
—Kira Felise
Advice to the President
Don’t start wars.
Help the homeless.
Why did you want to
be president?
Don’t play with skunks.
Always dress well.
Don’t fool around while
you are doing your work.
Was it hard to make
that speech?
—Sergio Mariscal
Obama’s Plan
Never confront Iraq for anything.
Don’t be afraid of those cats!
Make friends with the
Middle East.
If I was president of U.S. of A.
I’d bring our troops from the Middle East
and stop the war.
—Brian Clinkscale
Barack Obama
You should change the White House
to a farm with pigs and horses.
Don’t start something you can’t
finish.
Visit John Muir Middle School.
Let me visit the White House.
Can I meet your daughter? Please?
Don’t show off to the world.
Why did you enter to be
president?
Would you remodel the White House?
Can you adopt me?
Share your money?
Don’t put bananas in your
ears and listen to what people
have to say.
Don’t flirt
with your wife
in public.
—Stephen Estrella
Advice to Obama
Will you help the homeless?
Make this world better?
Stay strong.
Please lower gas prices.
Can you destroy guns
so the world can be better?
Don’t forget to help all
states and continents.
Always listen when you are
at meetings.
I would love to be friends
with your daughters.
—Darian Denard
Advice to Our Next President
Never start wars with people.
Help our economy out of its
downslope before it gets worse.
Help bail out the auto companies
before they fail and close.
Help the homeless by giving food
to them and a place to
stay warm.
Help states like mine that
are running out of money.
Hopefully everything will get better.
Will you help the places that
are failing?
—David Salminen
Advice to the President
Don’t start any wars.
Do everything you said you’re
going to do.
Don’t raise gas prices.
Don’t feed a mouse a cookie.
What is your favorite color?
Who is your best friend?
Did you always want to be
president, even when you were
a child?
My favorite thing of 2009
so far is you, Barack Obama,
being president.
Always be prepared for the unexpected.
—Kira Felise
Advice to the President
Don’t start wars.
Help the homeless.
Why did you want to
be president?
Don’t play with skunks.
Always dress well.
Don’t fool around while
you are doing your work.
Was it hard to make
that speech?
—Sergio Mariscal
Obama’s Plan
Never confront Iraq for anything.
Don’t be afraid of those cats!
Make friends with the
Middle East.
If I was president of U.S. of A.
I’d bring our troops from the Middle East
and stop the war.
—Brian Clinkscale
Barack Obama
You should change the White House
to a farm with pigs and horses.
Don’t start something you can’t
finish.
Visit John Muir Middle School.
Let me visit the White House.
Can I meet your daughter? Please?
Don’t show off to the world.
Why did you enter to be
president?
Would you remodel the White House?
Can you adopt me?
Share your money?
Don’t put bananas in your
ears and listen to what people
have to say.
Don’t flirt
with your wife
in public.
—Stephen Estrella
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