Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School

For the second consecutive year, students of Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School have been involved in writing Renshi Poetry thanks to visits from their poet mentor, Ms. Ann Inoshita.  A group of Gifted and Talented student representatives, all of whom participated in the writing workshops, will share samples of their creations at the 7^th Annual Hawaii Book and Music Festival.  These students, from Ma‘ema‘e in Nu‘uanu Valley, are members of the 4^th and 5^th grade and have been writing poetry in the “tag” style together. For their encore presentation this year, they are excited to share work written by both peers and themselves.  They have learned that writing poetry can draw people closer together because each Renshi poem is written in a cooperative manner.  Each student’s poem is created based on the ending of a previous poem’s final line.  During the reading, you will hear how the poems are connected and how inspired each student was by the thoughts of the prior poet.

Ms. Diane Koushki represents the students from the Gifted and Talented classes at Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School in Nu‘uanu Valley.  Her enjoyment of writing, as well as teaching the writing of poetry, has increased over her 34 years of teaching.  This was especially influenced by her cooperative work with Ms. Ann Inoshita and her own students over the past years while learning of Renshi Poetry.  Her recent work with students has been so rewarding that school groups, such as the P.T.S.A. at Ma‘ema‘e, encouraged her to continue the writing endeavor with all students in the future.