Superintendent’s Spotlight: Adrianna Bastardi, Warwick Valley Middle School
Middle School 8th grader Adrianna Bastardi has a way with words. Recently, she authored a poem which was published by the American Library of Poetry. The poem reads as follows:
My Name
My name means darkness and despair
My name is sadness. It’s a hard piece of coal that can’t be a diamond.
It is like the song, “Blood and Tears.”
My name is the color black- a night sky with no stars.
I don’t know where my name came from
because my parents didn’t give it to me.
But, they did give me the middle name Nicole,
which means “victory of the people.”
Adrianna is made from steel and muffins- banana muffins!
If I could change my name it would be Yuki,
because Yuki means snow, happiness, hope, joy, and love.
But for now I’m stuck with Adrianna.
Adrianna states that, “While I am sort of a timid person, I like to use my writing as a venue to express myself. I also enjoy drawing and taking care of my six dogs. For example, I always need to pet Jackson first as he is the most demanding!” When asked about the meaning of her poem “My Name,” Adrianna described how this is a poem that explores the idea that there is often two or more sides to every story. She further went on to state that, “I just feel like I have grown into liking the process of developing a story over time, thinking about it, and then turning it into something that people can visualize.”
Her teacher, Mrs. Diglio, describes Adrianna as a creative and candid writer. She stated, “Something I really appreciate about Adri’s writing is that it’s honest and brave. Both of those attributes are exceptional to see developing in a Middle School student writer.” It was in Ms. Diglio’s class that students studied the writing style of Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street; this ultimately led to Adrianna’s poem, “My Name.” As Adrianna describes, “My poem actually came out of a class assignment. I was modeling it after the vignettes we had studied and explored in Mango Street.
Principal Georgianna Diopoulos states, “I am so proud about how Adrianna has found her voice! Through her writing, one can learn that Adri has a lot to contribute to the world.” And speaking of the world, Adri says she is inspired by songs, holidays, or even television shows. “But my favorite genre is fantasy and I am most inspired just by being outdoors and looking at what I see around me.”
