NYELI (IVAN) ALVAREZ
I Remember
I remember Christmas, we all had silly string and we sprayed each other,
I remember making a good drawing for the first time,
I remember falling in a gas station and getting a bump on my head,
I remember the beach and the warm sand on my feet,
I remember the cake on my birthday,
I remember getting my first dog,
I remember the first time getting my ears pierced,
I remember the first time I went to Hawaii,
I remember the water slide I went on at Six Flags.
The Stage The Crowd
The stage the crowd,
They all can see me,
I stand there alone,
Oh, the stage, the crowd,
They all see how time passes, feels slow,
Oh, the stage, the crowd,
They say Don't worry, there's much to worry about.,
I have no words,
As time passes, it feels slow,
It's not me, is it?
I stand there, alone,
I have no words,
The stage is for the crowd.
What I love and hate
What I love about my family is that they are there for me most of the time,
What I hate about time is that sometimes it feels slow,
What I love about slow is that sometimes time feels slw to me
What I hate about me is that I’m not that smart,
What I love about Smart is that everybody's smart in their own way,
What I hate about the way is that it can take a while,
What I love about a while is that you can spend time with people,
What I hate about people is that they can be mean,
What I love about mean is that it can protect you,
What I hate about you is that you're not always supportive,
What I love about support is that it can be my family,
What I hate about family is that they're not always there for me,
What I love about me is that I’m amazing.
Wishes
I wish I could change the world,
I wish my friends would get along,
I wish all could be happy, the celebrations make it better,
I wish my friends felt like family,
I wish the world could get along together,
I wish there were a way to be safe,
I wish there were no more fires, they make things worse.
I wish my neighborhood would go outside more, but nobody does.
I wish there were no more wars.
I wish the world were clean; everybody litters.
I wish that the astronauts wouldn't get hurt.
I wish humankind could be one with nature again.
I wish to be the reason for the better in the world
Fear of
Fear of being alone
Fear of disappointment
Fear of losing
Fear of breaking
Fear of pain
Fear of knives
Fear of the outside world
Fear of wars
Fear of loud noises
Fear of not being good enough
Fear of failing
Fear of becoming crazy
Fear of death
Fear of me
DOMINIC CHAVEZ
Summer
In the summer sun, the ducks come to play
All the movies we watch, we hear, and say
In the summer sun, the horses say and neigh
The cookies we bake all come on a tray
And the couple of days where it's just training
And winning prizes, the kids say," Horay! "
And months before, there were kids on sleighs.
Above the sky
On the other side of the sky is where the bluebirds fly
And within is where my sadness lies
On the other side of the sky is where my family lies
Uncles?Aunts? I just can not decide
Beyond yonder and peace, where they try to realize their happiness
and joy before they can fly
On the other side of the sky are your bad memories.
They go on and on, I think, I guess?
On the other side? Window? We will never know what we do
Know is will and willpower nonetheless
We know we will be guests; nonetheless, we continue and try our best
On the other side of the sky is where we all lie
Beyond that is hope HOPE! We all try
On the other side is you, and we just have to guess
Wishing
Wishing o wishing the weeping of the bells
Wishing o whishing crying at the back of town
Wishing o wishing for a relieving spell
Wishing o wishing for a wishing bound
Wishing o wishing I found that wish
Wishing o wishing a reliving switch
Fear of fear
Fear of me
Fear of losing what I love
Fear of WW111
Fear of light
Fear of death
Well, I guess I don't know yet
Fear of love, fear of hate
Fear of not seeing my cat
On any date
Fear of my grades
Or the middle school I go to
Fear of blood
Fear for my bones
Fear of spiders
Or the big blue sea
Or getting hurt, you see
Fear of losing someone or something
Fear of loneliness
I think I guess fear
Fear of fear, get out of my way
So I can live freely for another day
Side
Inside, I wanna let go.
Outside, it is free roam.
Outside, it's my daughter's, it's her favorite
Inside its unloved
Outside, it's love and joy
Inside its worries, outside its breezy
Inside, I wish for love from my father
Outside, it's ok for him to bully me
Inside its protest, I wanna do something at heart
Outside, it's take it, keep quiet, just stop
Outside, it is ok for my sister to bully me
To bully grandma, pap, a mom, dad, the list goes on and on
Inside it does do do do, but nothing comes out
Rise
Like tears in the summer
That gets all dry
Under the sunlight
We will rise
Under the harvest moon
We lie
With broken pieces, we will never find
But like everyone
We still have to rise
We work and try
And won't have any time
Toliey and have some time
To rest and rise
We try and try sometimes
We ride
Along with dreams that unravel
Like butterflies
We want love and presents
We stride and stride for unfinished missions
We try to comply
And still
We rise
We rise
we rise
I remember
I remember ding-dong ditching the sound of police in the background
And my friends and I running out of fear and terror, I remember the crunch of chips at 7-11
The air conditioning was blasting on us, and my friends were chugging Slurpees that cooled us down
In the summer breeze scorching us and the tricks we would do to impress one another I remember the sea breaze as me and my family were playing and the waves of the ocean colder than ice hitting us with brute force I remember the water balloon fights being over dramatic with the dreaded clean up of plastic and the nerf wars we played i remember going back to school my mom being over dramatic and the sign she made me hold for back to school photos will tears form into her eyes.
1..2…3…
Some people live to the fullest.
Some people live on the sidelines.
Some go to a party
Some watch a movie
Some people live on the sidelines.s
Some get bullied until distressed
Some watch a movie
Some help people up
Some get bullied until distress.d
Some live to greed
Some help people up
Some live to give
Some live to greed
Some go to the party
Some live to give
Some people live life to the fullest.
Advice from a Taurus
Be hard-headed
Run towards the storm.
Take care of your heart
Be strong
Make a strong example
Live up to your name
It's ok to be sad
Just don't get stuck
Run with the wind.
No and yes
No, and yes, I don't know just yet
No to this, no to that
Yes to this and yes to that
No discrimination, NY, equal rights
No distractions, yes to new heights control, yes to confidence
No, yes, o yes
No rainy skies, yes sunny skies
Yes and no are both positive
I know this poem is a little everywhere
But no and yes are good and bad
Like yes to fights and no equal rights
Or yes, sunny skies, no bad people
Believe it or not,ot but we learn from the phrases
Like, no ice cream oryess, be safe
Yes no, yes no !!!!!!!
AMARIE GORY-ROMERO
Wishes, wishes, WISHES
I wish for peace im my family
I wish for sibling
I wish for another kid my age in my neighborhood
I wish for a treehouse
I wish for a local park
Wishes, wishes, WISHES
I wish…
I wish for a golden retriever
I wish for my friends to be happy
I wish for peace in the world
I wish there to be less homeless people
I wish for people to be treated equally
I wish for less pollution
I wish for less extinctions
I wish for less habitat loss
I wish to end world hunger
I wish to have less garbage in space
I wish for nicer people
I wish people were treated kinder
I wish…
On The Other Side Of My Mom
On the other side of my mom
Is where our love lies
On the other side of my mom
Is a whirlwind of emotions
On the other side of my mom
Is a pure and kind soul
On the other side of my mom
Is her as a whole
On the other side of my mom
Is a brave and loving heart
On the other side of my mom
Is a beautiful piece of artwork made of feelings
On the other side of my mom
Is a bright personality
On the other side of my mom
Is where our love lies
Fears
Fear of pollution
Fear of losing my house to a fire
Fear of fires
Fear of loud
Fear of big things
Fear of my house having a fire while i am asleep
Fear of deep waters
Fear of losing my friends
Fear of finding Voldemorts nose
Fear of darkness
Fear of bugs
Fear of being left out
Fear of not being able to help
Fear of habitat loss
Fear of global warming
Fear of running out of boba
Fear of the evolution of humans
Here Is Kid Street
Here wind blows
Here leaves rustle
Here grass tickles
Here birds chirp
Here clouds move
Here kids yell
Here game of tag is endless
Here teachers talk
Here keyboards click
Here book pages flap
Here kids run
Here kids play
Here kids learn
Here pens squeak
Here pencil sharpeners scratch
Here kids have fun
Here is Kid Street
I Rise
No sleep last night, still i rise
No more girl scout cookies, still i rise
Mike kept me up last night, i rise
No idea for christmas gifts, still i rise
No sleep last night
Mike kept me up
He doesn't understand that he can survive a night without food
And still i rise
We ran out of girl scout cookies
But still i rise
No idea for christmas gifts
So many people to find/get/make gifts for
What does everyone need/want
I rise
My unicorn left me home alone again
I hate being alone without my unicorn
And i rise
I rise
I rise
I rise
Life
Life is similar to a painting, you don't have to understand it to enjoy it
Some people take even the little things for granted
Not knowing is okay
Spending time witty the people you love is happiness
Some people take even the little things for granted
If you want the rainbow, you need to face the rain
Spending time with the people you love is happiness
Someone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything
If you want the rainbow you have to face the rain
Never stop dreaming
Someone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything
Impossibility is an opinion
Never stop dreaming
Not knowing is okay
Impossibility is an opinion
Life is similar to a painting, you don't have to understand it to enjoy it
The Museum Of The Lost
I walk and i see my lost dogs
My lucky coin i lost in my closet
My hedgehog stuffed animal
My brown fluffy socks
My notebook i lost on vacation
My favorite pink shirt i lost a few month ago
The toys i lost in the storage unit
Here is my teacher i lost, oh wait, there she is
Here is my concentration i lost while making this poem
Here is my blue string bracelet
Here is my brain cells i lost from my classmates
Here i lost in 5th grade
Here are the things i have lost
Advice From Dory
Just keep swimming
Flow free
Choose your stream
You can do it
Remember to- oh, i forgot it
Advice From A Hedgehog
Be soft and prickly at the same time
Keep on rolling
Take care of yourself
Everything quill turn out alright
Its okay to be a little on hedge
Everyone could use a little hedgehog
Stay sharp
Make your own path
VIVIENNE MADRONE MORRIS
The Beauty in Words
What I love about music
Is the beauty of the words,
What I hate about words
Is there ability to hurt someone,
What I love about someone
Is that they can be anyone,
What I hate about anyone
They can be rude to me,
What I love about myself
Is my willpower,
What I hate about willpower
Sometimes it can push you too far,
What I love about far
Is that it can feel so close,
What I hate about close
Is that no one is anymore,
What I love about anymore
Is that it can still be,
What I hate about be
Is that it has to be now,
What I love about now
Is the sound,
What I hate about sound
Is the rhythm,
What I love about rhythm
Is the music
What I hate about music
Is the beauty of the words,
I wish
I wish for a long and healthy life,
I wish for my friends to always be able to laugh,
I wish for my family to live long and always be happy,
I wish for my neighbors to be safe,
I wish for all countries at war to stop fighting and heal from their losses,
I wish for world peace,
I wish for people to stop polluting the Earth,
I wish for all stars to shine bright,
I wish for world hunger to end,
I wish to leave behind my art and a good message to the world,
On the other side of
On the other side of space
Is where my great grandmother lives,
On the other side of space
Is where my grandma talks about her quiet life,
On the other side of the sky
Is where my imagination lies,
On the other side of the sky
Is where me and my friends fly,
On the other side of summer
Is where the scorching heat of the sun engulfs us,
On the other side of summer
Is where we hope and wish,
On the other side of life
Is death and meeting loved ones with open arms and a kiss,
On the other side of life
Is saying bye to the ones we love and will miss,
Irrational Fears
Fear of death,
Of losing my parents,
Of losing my pets,
Of losing my family,
Of losing my friends,
Fear of sickness,
Of yellow fever,
Of melarya,
Of cancer,
Of dementia,
Fear of being embarrassed,
Of being laughed at,
Of being talked about,
Of being pushed and shoved around,
Fear of failure,
Of disappointing my teacher,
Of my family,
Of my parents,
Of my principal,
Fear of depression,
Of eternal sadness,
Of darkness,
Of feeling alone,
Of feeling the weight of feeling I did something wrong,
Grateful
I’m grateful for a lot of things,
For the smile from my parents for completing something,
For the smell of dinner when I enter my house,
For the feeling of my dogs fur against my hand,
For my friends, family, and pets,
For my school,
For my teacher,
For my principal,
For music,
For books,
For poetry,
For laughter,
For happiness,
For life,
For light,
For darkness,
Life
Life is a series of ups and downs,
Light and dark,
Right and wrong,
Love and hate,
Joy and anger,
Loud and silent,
Full and empty,
Why and why not,
What if and what if we don’t,
Will power and giving up,
Strength and fear,
Beauty and ugly,
Grateful and ungrateful,
But at the end we experience it all,
And we are lucky to,
So take it in and don’t take any of it for granted,
The truth of books
Books aren't that great
And I will never say
That books are amazing
I will always want to hear
I’m not a reader
You should never say
That book was great
That’s wrong
The truth is
That book wasn’t that great
Being honest
Still I Rise
You may tear them away from me
With sickness and death
You may leave me crushed and heartbroken
But still, from the broken pieces, I rise
You may give us unrealistic body standards
Leaving us sad and alone
But still, from the darkness, we rise
You may leave us without rights
Without protection
You may leave us without control of our own body
But still, from the danger we rise
I rise
We rise
Let’s rise
The Flood
Inside the dams are breaking
Outside I smile
Inside i;m flooding
Outside I laugh
Inside I’m heartbroken
Outside the pieces are glued together
Inside the water gets mopped up
Outside I keep it together
Inside water drips down
Outside I tell jokes and play games
Inside the dam gets rebuilt
Outside I listen
Inside I’m screaming
Outside I keep quite
Inside I curl up in a ball
Outside I read
Inside the dams break again
Outside I cry in the safety of my room
Inside I repair the hurt
Outside I fix the hurt by talking to my parents
Inside I heal
Outside I smile
Museum of Lost Things
Here is my mom I lost in the store when I was younger
I got distracted and wandered off
But a few minutes later she found me
And here is my uncle I lost to his autoimmune disease and he almost never leaves the house now
Here in this case is my grandmas dog that i loved but we lost to cancer
Here is my favorite stuffie that I woke up in the middle of the night without turns out she had just fallen out of my bed
Here is my phone that I thought I had put on the table next to my bed but it turns out I had put it in my bed
Here is my cat that we thought ran away but we never found her
Here is my hamster that I found dead in her cage
Here is my best friend I lost after changing schools
Here is the remote that controls the sound on my T.V that we lost when the T.V was on full blast luckily we found it sandwiched between the arm of the couch and the couch cushion
The Unnamed Poem
Once someone is gone
It feels like the world stops
It feels like the birds stop singing
And the flowers stop growing
It feels as if the nagging need for that person takes over
It feels like everything is only black and white
The tears push through and you have to let it out
But over time despair dissipates
In the warmth of your home
And the warmth of peoples love
You will start to smile and you happiness will return
You’ll smile and laugh
But the loss will still be there
But it will slowly get smaller
Until you start to not feel it
Advice to My Little Self
Cherish the feeling of your wet clothes sticking to you skin while dancing in the rain it might be the last time
Remember the feeling of chalk on your fingers soon that gets washed away
Bath in the success you feel once you have calluses on your hands from the monkey bars soon you’ll be too tall to climb across them
Don’t forget the feeling of dizziness after spinning in circles soon it will feel too childish
Remember the fear of the monster under the bed soon there will be none to check for
Cherish the feeling of being on your dads shoulders soon you’ll be tall enough to see without him
But the smiles, the love,the compliments, and the laughs those are things you don’t have to worry about not remembering because they will be with you for life guiding you and making your days just a little bit more bearable
So don't forget these cherish them and welcome them into your life
My dream
How is it fair,
To lose someone you love,
At such a young age.
Someone who influenced you so wonderfully,
Someone so caring and polite,
Taken from your life as if they don't matter.
How is it fair
For someone's dreams to be crushed,
And chained away,
Just to protect the public image of another.
How is it fair,
For someone to believe,
They don't matter,
Because someone is terrified of having their ego bruised.
The truth is,
You are special,
What you want does matter.
The truth is,
your dreams do take precedence,
over anyone's ego,
Or public image that they locked,
Away your dreams to protect.
My dream is,
That one day,
Peoples dreams and well being,
Will over take anyone's egos or public images,
That's my dream, and I won't let anyone lock it away.
No, Yes, Yes, No
No. To accepting others,
Yes. To selfishness,
No. You can't control your own body,
Yes. You can own others,
No. You can’t have free speech,
Yes. You can take credit for others work,
No. Stop trying to be different be the same as others, it’s easier,
No. Who told you you could speak to a man that way,
What are you so afraid of?
No. Diversity isn't wrong it's peaceful and should be normalized,
Yes. Its ok to give yourself a break from helping others,
No. You don't have say over my body,
Yes. We all deserve freedom,
No, You can't crush our ideas,
Yes. You can speak the same to men and women,
No. I will not fit myself into a mold I don't fit into just to be the same as others.
No, Yes, Yes, No.
CARMEN (YASHELLE) PADILLA
My dog
I love my dog
People think he is mean
He is nice
He likes food
People think he is mean.
He likes to sleep
He likes food
He eats all my food
He likes to sleep
He likes to play
He likes to eat my food
He loves toys
He likes to play
He is nice
He loves toys
I love my dog
Advice From Candy
Be sweet
Don’t be too sweet
Be soft
Don’t be too soft
Look cool
Be bright!
NO!
No. Don’t do drugs
No. Don’t smoke
No. Don’t drink
No. Don’t be a parent if you can’t afford it!
No. No. No
No. No. No
No. Don’t think everything is about you
No. Don’t get put in jail
No. No. No
No. Don’t run from the cops.
Do you really think some people
Would listen to this?
No. They didn’t
Yes!
Yes. Have friends
Yes, be a kid
Yes. Yes. Yes
Yes. Go to the park
Yes. go outside
Yes, think about other people too
Yes. Yes. Yes
Yes. Go play with the cat
Yes. go to bed
Yes. Yes. Yes
Yes. Go ride your bike.
Have fun because
Not everything is going to be
a yes
On the other side
On the other side of the window, there are children playing with water guns.
On the other side of the windrow, I can hear the sounds of birds singing.
On the other side of the moon is the sun shining
On the side of the school doors is my warm bed
On the side of the homework is a playground where kids play.
Museum of Lost Things
Here is my dad, whom I lost in the store when I went to the bathroom, but then I saw him with the food.
Here is my phone, which I lost in a pile of clothes
Here is my hamster, whom I lost while cleaning her cage
Here is my ring, I lost it 2 days ago on the side of the car door
Here is my teacher. I lost because of a kid refusing to come to our class
Here is my phone, I lost it again, again, and again.
MCCORMICK BRUNYER
I Wish
I wish to be wealthy
I wish to hangout with my friends more often
I wish for my family to never get sick
I wish people would understand me more often
I wish California cost less money to live in it
I wish for less pollution in the world
I wish for world peace
I wish that there actually are nice aliens in space
I wish people could live forever
I wish my legacy will be a cure for cancer
What I love about movies
Is they help me relax
What I hate about being relaxed
Is it makes me not move
What I love about being able to move
Is I could play games or eat food
What I hate about food
Is veggies and fruit
What I love about fruit
Is it’s good for our body
What I hate about my body
It makes me tired
Where darkness lies
Is another day that people need
Where darkness lies
is another good night
Where the sun lies
There is light
Where the sun lies
There is a new beginning
Where the moon lies
Is a time to rest
Where the moon lies
Is a time to refresh
Where light lies
There is hope
Where light lies
There is no darkness
Fears
Fear of being chopped to pieces
Fear of death
Fear of being immortal
Fear of being the size of a mouse
Fear of being the size of a t-rex
Fear of never living happily
Fear of heat
Fear of the cold
Fear of being stabbed in the back again
Fear of being nothing
Fear of never being myself
ERIN FIGHTMASTER - 6TH GRADE TEACHER
2025 Graduation Speech
Hello, I am Erin Fightmaster. This has been quite a year. It has also flown by, sometimes making me question, “Did we get through enough instruction?” This group of kids came in nervous and scared of the challenges of 6th grade. They wore their hearts on their sleeves and worked hard to rise to the middle school challenge. They have been a great group to work with, and I will miss them.
I have never had a group of students so connected with their feelings. At times, they may have struggled with words and even the right actions to take, but they listened when it was all said and done. They have beautiful hearts, and their advice for each other and me was often far beyond their years.
It is easy to forget sometimes that I am working with 6th graders. Society has exposed them to so much too soon. This sometimes means that the best lesson I can teach is showing them how to be kids. It is helping them understand how to build friendships, deal with puberty, and make choices that show growth, not set them back. It also lets them fail and builds their resilience to push through the problems of tomorrow.
Many of my students came in convinced that they could not keep up. My class was too scary to be successful in. Well, they proved themselves wrong. Not only have they kept up, but they have also thrived and pushed themselves more than they even thought possible. Knowing they are proud of their accomplishments is one of the greatest gifts when I read my students ' end-of-year statements. Does this mean that they will have an easy road ahead? On the contrary, no. Life only gets harder. However, what I want each of them to take away from this is that they have the tools to find success, but that is only predicated on their effort. Failure is inevitable, but your character and choices when failure happens are what will shape each of you. Learn from mistakes, embrace them. Keep your sights and goals high, but know that achieving them is entirely up to you. Are you capable, 100%? You just have to prove that to yourself.
Teaching you this year has been a privilege, and I will miss each of you. I hope to cross paths with you in the future and discover that your star is shining bright because you have worked for it and feel you deserve it. Congratulations on graduating!
And now, in the lingo of my students ...
🎓💅 2025 GRADUATION DROP — LET’S GOOOO 🎉📣
Yooo this year?
LOWKEY felt like 5 mins and 5 years at the same time 😵💫 Like, did we even learn anything??
(We did tho, don’t play 😌)
Y’all pulled up to 6th grade lookin’ like:
👀😬 “HELP.”
But now? Full glow up. You faced the cringe, the chaos, the cafeteria pizza 🍕… and came out ✨thriving✨.
No cap — y’all are so in touch with your feels. Sometimes the words weren’t wordin’ and the vibes were off, but you listened. You leveled up. Some of y’all gave advice like you were 30, fr. 💬💡
Tbh, the world’s been throwing main character energy at you wayyy too early. So half the time my job was just teaching you how to be kids again.
👯♂️ How to be real friends
😵🌪️ How to survive puberty (rip)
🤔 How to make moves that help you grow, not flop.
And listen — some of you were like “I can’t do this. This class is a jump scare.” 💀
But you ate. You kept going. You shocked YOURSELF. You didn’t just survive, you slayed. 💅
Are things gonna get easier now? Lol, nah 💀. Life’s built different.
But here’s the tea ☕:
You’ve got everything you need to win — as long as you put in the grind.
You’re gonna fumble sometimes. That’s life. But how you bounce back? That’s where the glow-up hits. 💫
📢 Say it louder for the people in the back:
👉 You’re so capable. 100%. Period.
But you gotta prove it — to yourself.
This year? Elite. Teaching you? GOATed.
I’m gonna miss y’all heavy 💔 but I’m also so hyped to see your future feeds full of wins. Keep shining, and make sure you feel like you deserve it. Cuz you do.
🎉🎤 OKAY CLASS OF 2025 — IT’S GIVING… GRADUATED.
Congrats, besties. Go be iconic. 🌟💅💖