Loveland Primary School students shared their best parts in poetry Tuesday

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (April 27, 2023) – Close to 100 Loveland Primary School (LPS) second grade students shared the best part of themselves in poems during a “Poetry in the Park” event at Nisbet Park Tuesday afternoon, April 25.

Brynn Frietch shared her poem about her ears being her ‘best part” (Photo Chuck Gibson)

Their legs and feet walked them from school to Nisbet Park. Their arms and hands carried the papers upon which they wrote a poem. Their eyes saw the crowd gathered to listen as their mouths spoke the poems their brains helped compose. Their hearts filled with joy as each student recited their own poem revealing the best part of themselves. It had to be the best part of the day for about 200 people who sat in the Nisbet Park Amphitheater watching and listening to Poetry in the Park. The second grade students came from the classrooms of LPS teachers Mrs. Foltz, Mrs. Little, Mrs. McDonald and Mrs. Schlesselman.

LPS 2nd grade teachers Mrs. Foltz, Mrs. Little, Mrs. McDonald and Mrs. Schlesselman thanked the parents, students and community for being the “best part” our our community and supporting the kids at Poetry in the Park. (Photo Chuck Gibson)

The “Poetry in the Park” presented by the Loveland Primary School at Nisbet Park alongside the Scenic Little Miami River and trail was based on the theme of “The Best Part of Me”. It started at 12:30 p.m – during the lunch hour on a spring afternoon – on a not so beautiful spring day. Nobody was complaining as they sat dressed for the chill and the sunless sky, but still saw what is clearly one of the best parts of the community of Loveland – the school children. The printed program listed every second grade student from LPS classrooms – 98 by my count, could be slightly more, or less. No teachers checked my math.

Cover and page 1 of Poetry in the Park program listing all the students (Chuck Gibson)

One by one each student stepped up to the microphone on the amphitheater stage, gave their name and recited aloud their poem defining “The Best Part of Me”.

You see their teacher had assigned them the task of thinking about the best part of themselves and then writing a poem about it. The majority chose their legs and feet followed closely by those who chose their hands.

Yes, many spoke of their eyes and ears. Some focused on hidden parts that are just as important, if not more so, than parts of us we call can see. So yes, we heard about the brain being the best part and also the heart.

Program listing the LPS second grade students who recited their poems (Chuck Gibson)

They talked of how their legs and feet help them walk, run fast, almost always fast, kick – usually a soccer ball, and how they couldn’t get anywhere without their legs and feet to stand on.

You could hear the excitement as they told how legs and feet helped them be active and successful on the playing fields of sport whether it was football, basketball, soccer or, my personal favorite, baseball and more.

Arms and hands were similar in how they help them write, eat, play and do the things they love to do best. The most insightful seemed to be the brain with students telling how the brain helped them to think and to learn, and to even write the poem, but especially how they knew the brain controls all the parts of their body.

The last pages of the Poetry in the Park program listing students and thanking the community (Chuck Gibson)

Then came the heart. They told how the heart helps them love; especially the members of their family, their friends, their teachers and even their pets.

Nothing more need be said once they spoke of their hearts. The message was clear: there is good in everyone. This lesson helped each student find their own best part – the good in themselves.

The eyes saw, the ears heard, brains understood, but hearts were filled with the best part of Loveland Primary School – the second grade Poetry in the Park.