Amy's Writing Awards, April 1998

At the District Writing Contest, Amy received a 2nd place award for her poem collection and a 3rd place award for her narrative.

A Poem Collection by Amy Gaarenstroom

                        Just Looking
                              
           I look out my window and what do I see?
                              
                    A great big bumblebee
                   Looking straight at me.
                              
           I look out my window and what do I see?
                              
              My mother holding her house key,
           For she was next door having some tea.
                              
           I look out my window and what do I see?
                              
           A little boy who has scraped his knee.
                He is crying as you can see.
                              
           I look out my window and what do I see?
                              
             That girl is playing and so is she!
            That boy eats an apple under a tree.
                              
                              
                           Bubbles
                              
            Bubbles are swiftly moving all around
            Moving with the wind without a sound.
              Then suddenly they quickly stop!
             You wait a while, then hear a pop!
                You carefully blow some more,
              Then admiringly, watch them soar.
               Then the bubbles are in a race.
            They're all moving at a steady pace.
              Who will be the first to the sky?
            As you watch, you realize it's a tie!
                              
                       Wild Imagination
                              
          As you sit there and imaginately ponder,
         You start to wonder what's overhill yonder.
                  You begin to wildly dream
           Of beautiful mystic unicorns prancing,
       And smart little monkeys who dream of dancing.
                 And then you start to think
               Of a purple polka-dotted drink,
           A perfume that brings up such a stink!
         A computer that's painted yellow and pink,
        And finally, a green straw bathtub and sink!

My Best Friend

Chapter 1 - Chelsea
Chelsea C. is my best friend because she is nice, loyal, neat, caring, and honest. She is a fifth grader just like me, often giggly, and always very friendly. She has a younger sister named Brittany. Chelsea was born in November. I was born in August, so I am a little older. Something else interesting about her is her religion called Jehovah Witness. That means she can't celebrate holidays. She is a very good reader, speller, and is also good in math. She's a very good author also, and is also a talented artist and pianist. She's very smart too! Chelsea's very patient and gentle. She's a very helpful person besides being caring, silly, active and admiring. She usually wears her hair in pigtails. She has blondish brown hair and has hazel eyes. Her favorite color is blue. She likes the beach, and has an army-colored Tamagotchi, and a green W.W.J.D. One night we went to a roller skating party and we had so much fun, because it was her first one! She's a good skater too!

Chapter 2 - The Story (fiction)
One day Chelsea and I were playing by the blue monkey bars on the school playground when she mentioned that she wanted to play with the jaguar, Spotty. But I also wanted to play with Spotty, so I apologized, "Sorry, I'm going to play with him today, and also Arrow, the Boa Constricter, and Spider, the spider monkey. You can play with Sandy, Tiny, and Anna." "Oh, I see," Chelsea replied.

The next day we got into a huge disagreement. She claimed that I was being unfair. I accused her of being unreasonable. "You're being unfair, Amy," Chelsea accused. "Am not. You're being unreasonable," I retorted. "Am not. You're crazy!" Chelsea responded. "Yeah, right! You're really cuckoo!" I snorted. "I want everything I let you sharpen with my pencil sharpeners," I demanded. "Too bad, you wierdo!" she sneered. "You're a Jehovah Witness!" I yelped. "True," she confessed.

We quarreled on and on. Then the whistle blew. We wrote notes of endless anger to each other during class. Once I wrote: "You're a chunky monkey!" Then she wrote: "I know you are, but what am I?" The next day was the same ... until lunch recess! "I'm really sorry for all those mean notes and things I said," I apologized. "Me too. Friends again?" Chelsea pleaded. She got down on her knees to be silly. "Okay, okay. Yes!" I giggled. We looked at each other and toppled over with laughter. Andy came up to us and curiously questioned, "Is my hair sticking up or what?" We looked at each other, "Uh no?" we squealed with secret pleasure.