Jefferson School eighth-grader wins poetry award

Dylan Thomas, an eighth-grader at The Jefferson School in Georgetown, is the recipient of a Delaware regional Gold Key from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

With his works titled “Solos,” Thomas was one of 240 teens in the Delaware region to receive recognition for an original work of poetry, and one of 10 Gold Key winners in poetry.

“I’ve never won an award like this before, so it was a pretty satisfying feeling,” said Thomas, who said the inspiration for his collection of five poems came from his social studies class at TJS.

“We were examining Time magazines from the 1960s, and I felt like a lot of the turmoil from that time was being paralleled in our world today,” he said.

An awards ceremony was held at Delaware State University Feb. 9. Thomas’s work will be reviewed at the national level in New York City by panels of creative professionals.

“We are incredibly proud of Dylan and are thrilled that his poetry was recognized as the most outstanding work submitted among his peers,” said Connie Hendricks, head of school at TJS. “We wish him the best of luck in the national competition.”