South San Francisco, CA April 8, 2015 Submitted by California Coastal Commission 
California Coastal Commission announces the results of 2015 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
South San Francisco eleventh grader Amanda Vallecorse is a winner in the 2015 California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest. Ten winners (five in art, five in poetry) and 45 honorable mentions were selected out of 2,529 entries from California’s kindergarten through 12th grade students. The California Coastal Commission has held this contest for creative students to celebrate the coast and ocean since 1998.
“Amanda’s poem takes you on an air-born trip down our coast. It conveys a sense of awe and at the same time a sense of home, which are feelings that often come together for Californians,” said Annie Kohut Frankel, Education Coordinator for the Coastal Commission.
The recognized art and poetry is showcased on the Coastal Commission’s website and spends a year traveling up and down the coast as a public exhibit. The exhibit will be on display at the Point Reyes Bear Valley Visitors Center in Marin County, the Ford House Museum in Mendocino, the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center in Ventura Harbor, and Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla. The winning poetry will be featured in an upcoming issue of Chapman University’s TAB: A Journal of Poetry & Poetics.
Winners and honorable mentions can be viewed online at coastforyou.org.
The deadline for the 2016 contest is January 30.
California Soaring
By Amanda Vallecorse, 11th grade
Trees, amazing redwood trees,
So tall and majestic, Mendocino magic.
I find my way above their fray,
Coastal spray and trains that wind from mountain to bay.
Eyes squinting to see through billowing fog and mist,
What’s this: A rust colored golden gate towers above slow moving clouds.
My soul breathes in the cold, salty ocean air,
As arms open to greet me, inspire me, give my wings life.
My California spirit is soaring now,
San Francisco winds gently lead me south.
Finally, a place to rest at the Monterey sea crest,
An oasis wild and free, teeming with my kind.
There they are, old souls with powerful blow holes.
Slow and steady, I feel their life rhythm beneath me.
My humpback friends lead me now,
Continuing my journey south to tinsel town.
Ah, now for some action!
The Santa Monica Pier deserves my attention.
A morsel of food to fill my bill,
A city of angels and dreams to fill my wings.
My home, independent and free,
I see all this California can be.
The golden coast is more than a view.
It is a preview of what can be, a possibility,
Where free spirit meets every aspect of beauty.