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Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Natalie Marziani

Patch talks to Natalie Marziani about her poem "A Fall Color" that placed second in the Delaware County Poetry Competition.

Each week, Marple Newtown Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. This week, we highlight seventh-grade (soon to be eighth grade) student Natalie Marziani of Paxon Hollow Middle School for her winning poem "A Fall Color."

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Natalie Marziani

Whiz Kid's Age: 13

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Whiz Kid's School:

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Natalie's poem was awarded second place in this year's Young Poets of Delaware County Poetry Contest for grade 7. Her poem was inspired by the colors she saw saw during the fall. Top three poetry winners were chosen from each grade (grades 1-12), in which they were all invited to read aloud their poem in a ceremony in the spring that was hosted by the Delaware County Library System and the Delaware County Council. This was Natalie's first time entering a poetry contest.

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Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: Though it began as a simple writing assignment in her English class, Natalie's poem, "A Fall Color," was secretly entered into the contest by her mother, which eventually won second place out of all the seventh-grade entrants from all over Delaware County.

"It was just an assignment for Englsh class," recalled Natalie. "I didn't think it was going to be entered into anything. But my mom decided to secretly enter me into the contest. I was pretty shocked."

Not only was she shocked that her mother had entered her into the contest, but she was doubly shocked when she had won second place.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Natalie.

Natalie said the assignment was to pick a color and write descriptions that the color depicted and eventually creating a poem. At the time it was the fall and she decided on the color orange because "I had a lot of inspiration around me at the time."

One of the lines in her poem, "The orange tongues of the fire lick at the marshmallows," is just a glimpse of this young poet's talent. But Natalie doesn't really consider herself a poet and considers poetry something she just likes to do on the side–like in birthday cards.

"It was just an attempt," said Natalie modestly about the line. "I like poetry and sometimes I like writing fictional stories–kind of a mix. Sometimes on birthday cards, I'll write a little poem."

Though she obviously loves English, she's also surprisingly a fan of mathematics too. Both enjoying the creative side of English and the logical side of math, Natalie has a lot of things she wants to consider pursuing in the future.

"I thought about what I wanted to be when I grow up and there are so many things that I want to do, and I can't really just pick one," said Natalie.

Although she hopes to become an author some day, she's looking towards the nearer future of high school. She hopes to continue playing the oboe for the high school band as well as field hockey and lacrosse.

Editor's note: Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout or did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kid honoree. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid.


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