Thursday, June 18, 2015

High Tech High School Receives Honorable Mention for Haikus

(New York, NY—June 6, 2015) The United Nations International School (UNIS) and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations have announced that High Tech had six members of their community receive Honorable Mention in the 2015 Student Haiku Contest, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.

The United Nations International School and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations chose their haikus from approximately 1,600 entries from around the world, including Kenya, Belgium, and Nagano, with over 800 entries received in the English division and almost another 800 haikus written in Japanese, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Italian.

In this the tenth year of the contest, poets, their families, and teachers attended the Awards Assembly at the United Nations on Saturday, June 6th.  A representative of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United States addressed the assembly and the United Nations displayed all finalist poems.

The following students earned Honorable Mention in the English Division: Xuan Liang of Harrison; Hoboken resident Jaclyn Rosa; and Ariella Ortega and Haseeb Shah of Jersey City.  Joan Marie Bellotti, veteran Language Arts instructor, also received Honorable Mention.  North Bergen resident Yesim Cardak has received Honorable Mention in the Japanese Division.

                                      smell of fresh cardboard
un-creased leather
new shoes
                                                                        by Ariella Ortega

family hugs overwhelm me
conversation fills
the Thanksgiving table
                                                                     by Jaclyn Rosa

flames
through the forest
a scorched tree
                                                                       by Haseeb Shah

roller coaster rides
endless lines
always worth the wait
                                                                         by Xuan Liang

Weeping:
                                                      in this dark world
all alone
                                                                                  by Yesim Cardak

on cobblestone paths
the dreams of my grandparents
live

                                                                                               by Joan Marie Bellotti
from left to right: Jaclyn Rosa and Xuan Liang