Homestead-Miami Speedway is continuing its commitment of inspiring students to become champions in the classroom through creative writing.
Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network of the Jason Taylor Foundation recently began the second annual “Write Track Poetry” competition with a pep rally at Gateway Environmental K-8 Learning Center in Homestead.
The event, which hosted more than 450 middle schoolers, provided students an entertaining avenue to get excited about creative writing and literacy through poetry with a focus on NASCAR. Students were shown videos from past partnerships of the program, and then treated to spoken-word performances from members of the bluapple Poetry Network.
The Write Track Poetry program inspires students to put pen to paper and compose poems. This year, students from 13 Miami-Dade County middle schools will submit a poem based on the topic, “What is Your Legacy?”
As part of this year’s competition, the top three poetry pieces in each grade (6-8) from all 13 schools will be awarded two tickets to the NASCAR XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 18. The school with the highest percentage of participation will receive a donation from Homestead-Miami Speedway’s charitable outreach program, “Driving for a Cause.”
Of the 13 schools, the top-three poets overall will have the unique opportunity to be driven to school in the Homestead-Miami Speedway Official Pace Car. At the conclusion of the competition, one of those top-three poets will be given the chance to have their piece professionally recorded/produced and played prior to the start of the Ford EcoBoost 300.
The following schools are participating in the program: Air Base K-8 Center, Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, Campbell Drive K-8 Center, Caribbean K-8 Center, Coconut Palm K-8 Academy, Gateway Environmental K-8 Learning Center, Irving & Beatrice Peskoe K-8 Center, Kenwood K-8 Center, Leewood K-8 Center, Leisure City K-8 Center, Mandarin Lakes K-8 Academy, Redland Middle School, and Richmond Heights Middle School.
Each of the 13 schools conducted pep rallies in conjunction with the program.
