WE HAVE A LITTLE RIVER OF WORDS AT OUR LIBRARY

     It's here again!  The River of Words!  And we are so glad to be hosting a portion of the traveling River of Words exhibit.
     I just took a tour of the exhibit, which is in our reading area.  There is a back and front to the exhibit, so be sure that you look at both sides.
     The Environmental Poetry and  Art Project is coordinated in Georgia by the Georgia Center for the Book and Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), a program of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.  River of Words is a national poetry and art competition.  Students in grades 1 through 12 are invited to create visual art or poetry that shows an understanding and appreciation of their natural environment, and specifically their own watershed.
     During my tour of the exhibit I noticed pictures and poetry from mostly "up-state" in the areas of Cumming, Duluth, Marietta, Lilburn, Gainesville, Woodstock, Roswell, Atlanta and Conyers.  However, I did see one entry from Monticello! 
    The entries cover grades 1 through 12 with a variety in their pictures:  a red fox, white wolf, green crab, blue egret,white polar bear, blue-black octopus, multi-colored gecko, greenish alligator, and purple jellyfish, along with beaver, deer, and trees.  The water side of pictures covered waterfalls, ponds, seasides, lakes and savannahs.  I saw pictures of children playing at the beach, floating on rivers and ponds with their inner tubes, and just having fun in the water.
     The pictures were made up of collages, acrylics, photography, markers and pencils, pastels and plain chalk, and tempera.  The poetry covered four lines to thirty lines.  Children as young as six years old were writing little poems about the water.
     All these children were State Winners!  All had expressed themselves to the fullest, whether they'd painted a picture, taken a photo, or written a poem about something water-related.
      More than 150,000 entries have been submitted since the program begin in 1997.  Thousands of students have participated in Georgia; more than 2,000 entries in three grade categories were received in 2009 alone!  Entries were judged on a state and national level.  Georgia has had several National Grand Prize Winners in recent years.
     You can visit the winners Galleries on GAProjectWET.org.  And you can learn more about River of Words at their website:  http://www.riverofwords.org or view the Georgia State Winners of poetry and art at our library, 204 Fifth Street, Southeast, in Moultrie.
    The exhibit will be here through October 20, during the library's open hours.