Japan Fest was held on Sunday, October 8th in the Franklin High School cafeteria, where Milwaukee’s haiku club had haikus from the 2017 haiku writing competition on display. This year, the club honored three Arrowhead students with awards.

Junior Della Gehring’s haiku was awarded first place:

The depths call my name,

“Jump in!” My toes inch closer.

With one leap, I dive.

In second place was junior Matthew Raab’s haiku:

Sheets flutter and flap.

Summer breeze day, fluff and crisp.

Grandma’s scent returns.

And senior Matthew Chomniak’s haiku won third place:

Line and tackle box.

Cast far and wide, short and near.

Find the trophy fish.

Elizabeth Jorgensen, the students’ creative writing teacher, said, “I wanted my online creative writing summer school class to be purposeful and engaging. Throughout the summer, I offered my students authentic writing opportunities. One of these was the Milwaukee Haiku Club’s haiku-writing competition.”

Students could send in as many haikus as they wanted to the competition.

According to Jorgensen, Raab, Chomniak and Gehring each submitted three haikus to the competition.

Gehring said that she had forgotten she even submitted the poem, so she was shocked to find out she won first place.

“I didn’t expect to win at all. In fact, I only did the assignment for extra credit in the first place,” said Gehring.

According to Gehring, her poem was about swimming in a lake in the summer. She says she was trying to capture the exact thoughts that flow through her mind right before she jumps into a lake.

Gehring said, “I have always enjoyed writing in general, and poetry gives me the opportunity to connect my thoughts and feelings to words on paper.”

She said she enjoys writing haikus, but sometimes feels limited by the syllable restriction.

Miyuki Lucht, a member of the Milwaukee Haiku Club, said all of the members of Milwaukee Haiku Club enjoyed reading the Arrowhead submissions. She wanted to “please tell our appreciation from us to all of your students who entered the contest.”

Jorgensen said she attended Japan Fest where the Arrowhead students’ submissions were recognized. Each winning student received a certificate as well as a hand-painted print of their winning haiku.

Japan Fest is an annual event. The event went from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm. According to Japan Fest’s website, there was food, including a live sushi demonstration, an arts and crafts sale, a performance of Japanese martial arts, as well as other performances and booths.

To find out more about Japan Fest and the Milwaukee Japanese Association, visit https://milwaukeejp.wordpress.com/fundraisers/japan-fest-2016/.

Arrowhead superintendent, Laura Myrah, posted results of the competition on Arrowhead’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

“CONGRATS to AHS students for top awards in the Milwaukee Haiku Club’s ‘Under 18’ Contest,” Myrah posted to Twitter. She listed the winners’ names and attached photos of the club’s booth at Japan Fest, as well.