Local wins at nationals in Remembrance contest

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

One young Wheatland Crossing student’s literary talents helped her to receive the highest award possible in the 2019 Royal Canadian Legion Remembrance Contest in the junior poetry division. Twelve-year-old Avery Koole wrote both the poem and an essay about Remembrance Day for a class assignment last year. The result, a 20-line free verse poem titled “Just Remember” captures how Koole feels about and what she thinks about Remembrance Day.
The poem ended up sweeping the nation to win her first place in the junior poetry division at the district level, first in provincials out of over 178 regions, and finally first out of over 1,000 districts competing at the national level.
Koole, who is in Grade 6 and loves to write stories has not much experience at trying to write poems, is thrilled at the result.
“I wrote it on how I felt about Remembrance Day and I struggled at first but then when I asked my teacher (Mrs. Moczulski) she just said to write it on how I feel so I wrote it on that,” said Koole, adding that she had no idea that her poem had advanced through the ranks and that winning Nationals was a complete surprise to her when she opened her letter last month.
She has received many praises from friends and family, and in particular one family friend whose father fought in the war commented that he read the poem over 50 times and still felt emotionally impacted by it every time and thanked Koole for writing the poem through her view.
“I’m super proud, it was very unexpected … lots of people have told me how they read it for the first time and how it’s impacted them and they just appreciate the simplicity but the meaning of it,” said Lindsey Koole, Avery’s mother, noting that she has been taking her win in stride even with people making a big deal about it.
An award ceremony was held at Wheatland Crossing School on May 1 where a certificate was presented to the Royal Canadian Legion Standard Branch No. 166 in recognition of Koole’s poem. Koole received both a cheque which she plans on saving and a plaque for her accomplishment and a second plaque to hang on the walls of Wheatland Crossing School marking the accomplishment.
Some locals remarked that they believe this is the first time in the past 45 years that a local has made it all the way to and won Nationals in the Remembrance competition.
Koole is ever humbled by the award and hopes to practice her poem and story writing to get better at it.
“I wasn’t sure at the start because I was struggling but once I got it done I was really proud of it,” said Koole, whose favourite part was when she finished her poem because “When I read it over I just felt how powerful this poem (was) … I feel I did really good and I think I’ll maybe try to write more poems now.”