Dear Parents and Friends,
I trust that you are healthy, happy and content. In two weeks’ time, this term will be at its end, and after the Easter break, the rush of examination activities will befall us with all intensity. So, I would encourage those students who have the privilege to enjoy a break to make the most of it.
Since beginning times, almost every history and culture has celebrated the beauty of poetry. Epics such as the Iliad and Odyssey, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Beowulf celebrated man’s struggles, while Shakespearean sonnets captured the exquisiteness of poetry. Edgar Allen Poe credits poetry for being the “rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” Not forgetting our own Wole Soyinka, Ben Okri, Chinua Achebe, Jimi Solanke, Mabel Segun, etc. With such accolades, one cannot ignore the importance and enrichment that poetry brings to any curriculum, in any language.
However, poetry is so much more than meter and rhyme for the versatility of this medium lends itself to any lesson, any grade level, and every student.
As such, we celebrate poetry at James Hope College, and I want to share some poems written by our own budding poets in this newsletter. A generic title, ‘The Last Page’ was given and students had to write about this using their own words. Please enjoy this as we enjoyed it when it was presented at a recent assembly – these creations are insightful, touching and comes from innovative minds and vivid imaginations.
In conclusion, ‘What can a pencil do for all of us? Amazing things. It can write transcendent poetry, uplifting music, or life-changing equations; it can sketch the future, give life to untold beauty, and communicate the full-force of our love and aspirations’.
Here is wishing you a splendid evening.
Yours truly
Abraham P. Swart
Principal
