Students at Pleasant Valley Middle School shared their poetic creativity with friends and family in the third annual Drop the Mic night.

Alexandria Gibb, a gifted teacher at the middle school, said the first time the event was held was before the pandemic, so it has been on hiatus for a few years.

The poetry, music and art event was held May 25 in the school gymnasium. Twenty-four students read their original works, with six of them reading as duos. The PVMS Jazz Band played well-known tunes between the four sets of poetry.

The poems encompassed everything from love and family to environmentalism and history. One such poem was a mix of history and fiction.

Sixth-grader Julian Delgado wrote a poem titled “Thou Shall Not Grief” written from the perspective of a soldier in battle. Delgado said he used historical information he saw in a video about war, and wanted to create a poem about a soldier as the war nears the end. The last stanza of the poem read:

“I looked, and the enemy was staring down,

From the area of the town.

Rifle to Rifle, war is in shambles,

We stare as our families are now just samples!

We looked and nod and felt like we were allies,

We lowered our rifles with sad eyes.

Because the war would end in 5,

It was amazing how I am alive.

But war is nothing but death,

I can only hear my breath.

And then I felt a sharp pain.”

“I think he nailed that,” Gibb said after Delgado finished reciting his poem.

In an interview, Delgado said, “I wanted it to be darkest poem here.”

Sophia Tinker took true historical events to write two poems for her history class. One of the poems was titled “Roanoke” about the Lost Colony and the other was titled “Paul Revere’s Midnight.”

Three stanzas from the middle of her poem about the Lost Colony read:

“I docked our boat on the port,

And didn’t expect the trip to be so short.

We looked around and didn’t see anything,

Only hearing the birds sing.

Not a single smoke not a single fire,

Not a single soul remained in the Shire.

We stood there as questions ran through our heads,

Questions that answered where they might have fled.

There was CROATOAN carved on a tree,

Probably letting us know we need to flee.

Our brothers and I got back on the boat,

We were surprised we were still afloat.”

Macy Fette was moved by nature and wrote a short two stanza poem titled “Ocean Pollution.” It read:

“The ocean once blue and pristine,

Now bears the scars of human machine.

Plastic bags, bottles, and straws,

Float in the water and break natural laws.

Marine life suffers and dies,

As we continue to pollute and despise.

The coral reefs, once colorful and bright,

Now fade away, losing their fight.”

At the end of the evening, Gibb thanked everyone for coming out, as well as the support from the teachers and administration.

“Our music program is strong and growing. Our drama program is strong and growing. Our musical program is strong and growing. Our English language arts is strong and growing, and our school district is strong and growing due to the support of parents like you who come out and support your students every single time,” Gibb said.

The participants who read their poems were Sam Lowell, Kylie Hendrix, Isabella Schmelzle, Kamilla Mora, Victoria Di Marco, Travis Hansen, Mia Gonzalez, Sophia Tinker, Kiera Jeffreys, Julian Delgado, Madison Zorn, Autumn Schwartz, Macy Fette, Nevaeh Allie, Emerie Gonzalez, Noelle Wolff, Lexie Krasniqi, Madison Zorn, and Shelby O’Neill.

Those who read as duos included Madelyn Carbajal and Madelyn Korp, Paige DeLancey and Almarilys Ortiz, and Shelby O’Neill joined Tannya Nunez for a recitation.