| TnJPoetry in motion Timea Csonka Frye and her husband, Jayson Frye, are keeping poetry creative and alive in Tracy — and throughout the world. They have accomplished a lot in their relatively short history, starting with Timea writing a book of poetry, “The Violin,” in 2004, along with two children’s books and another nonfiction work. Since she founded TnJ Poetry that same year, the Fryes have inspired a lot of other poets to write and publish their own poetry. Timea was so passionate about poetry and other writers being published that she wanted to let others feel the freedom of voicing their thoughts, free of charge, on their Web site, tnjpoetry.com. TnJ Poetry’s mission is to help children and young adults have their voices heard. It became a nonprofit group in 2006 and has held contests each year. Its scope has spread, starting from one elementary school to become an international contest for poetry and lyrics, with a special-poets contest for those with special needs or disabilities. Recent 2008 high school contest winners were (drum roll please!) Kristen Berry Hill, in first place, for “Painting Acceptance,” Brittney Nunes, second place, for “A Young Girl,” and Kendal Huevelman, third place, for “Lust.” This year’s middle school first-place winner, Molly Gately, wrote “The Dance of Life.” Second place went to the poem “Inside Beauty” by Shayne Dewitt, with Autum Martin placing third with “Five Little Houses.” The high school winners’ poetry is at tnjpoetry.com/OurWinners.html. Awards presentations happened recently for the second-year special-poets contest in Barbara Reed’s special-education class at North School. The children were all winners, and they were thrilled to get certificates. First-place poet Michael Teixeira wrote “The Flattened Cat.” Second-place winner Ruth Sanchez received a reward of school supplies, including a backpack, for her poem, “The Best Friend,” and Amritpreet Kaur also received special rewards for “The Stars.” The benefits of the poetry contests that TnJ run are unlimited, as Reed will attest. “Education’s greatest glory is helping students discover their gifts,” Reed said. “By enlisting them in this poetry contest and exposing them to the excitement of language and creating rhymes, many of my students found a passion they never knew existed. “We may be witnessing the birth of young poets in my classroom, thanks to Timea Frye’s contest. What a memorable learning experience!” It’s always a blessing when you see the light come on in a student’s eyes as they comprehend something for the first time. I’ve seen — personally, professionally and vicariously through another friend who teaches acting (as I do, at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts) — that students find that when they start writing or performing and find that creativity and inner voice, it’s a monumental moment in one’s life. Jo Hensel and her students at North School also benefitted when TnJ Poetry worked with Hensel’s seventh-grade class. “The TnJ Poetry Contest literally changed the way I teach,” Hensel said. She is a language arts teacher, and it is her job to teach students to articulate clearly, but many times she has English-language learners in class who find it difficult to manipulate the English language. “Poetry allows them to express themselves without being concerned about the typical English-language conventions,” Hensel said. “When the pen hits the paper, it’s astonishing how their hearts take over when their brain is able to relax.” When I have shown children at South/West Park Elementary School that they could draw along with me, they’ve see that it’s just steps that get them through to drawing something outside of themselves. Sometimes they find, as I did, that it awakens them to a whole new talent they had buried inside. Just like Dorothy in Oz — she really had it in her all along. TnJ’s adult/college poetry contest ends July 27, and the elementary school contest ends Oct. 26. The Fryes have found that since they opened the contest to the World Wide Web, most of their submissions come from outside of Tracy, but they still plan to have performances for local poets and artists. They have had to temporarily suspend the awards ceremonies, though, until donations start picking up. They still hope to perform again soon at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts with their poetry slams. New this year, TnJ Poetry will launch its first poetry magazine in December. So as long as they have the passion, advertisers, donors and supporters (which you can help with at their Web site), the organizers of TnJ Poetry will keep fulfilling burgeoning poets’ dreams of having their voice published. And what a voice indeed these word- artists have. They paint with their ideas, and what a beautiful and diverse palette they use! |
| June, 25 2008 |