Two Woodstock Union students win Liberty Art & Poetry Contest
Winners Genevieve Williams ‘30 and Lylah Zeitlin ‘27
On Thursday, September 17, 2026, two WUHSMS students were celebrated for submitting winning poems to the Vermont Student Expressions of Liberty Art & Poetry Contest.
Lylah Zeitlin's poem "A Note on Evolutionary Optimism" won first place in the high school poetry contest, and 9th grader Genevieve Williams won first place in the middle school contest for her poem "Freedom Will." Sponsored by Middlebury's Town Hall Theater, the contest — part of America 250: Expressions of Liberty — challenged students across Vermont to honor our nation's 250th anniversary by responding to the question, "What does freedom mean to me?" Genevieve worked on her poem in the spring, using rhythm and meter to paint a variety of rich and diverse images of freedom.
The celebration of the winning submissions took place on Constitution Day in the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury, Vermont. Program participants included Vermont Poet Laureate Bianca Stone, performer Bill Wiles, judges, and lawyers who read selections from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Lylah and Genevieve both recited their inspirational poems to an audience which included their proud parents, community members, students, and English teacher Ms. Hagge.
Congratulations to both students on this well-deserved honor!
A Note On An Evolutionary Optimism
I love my country I do I admit it, I love it I love these gnarled roots And these forests of mine These people of mine That swallow kings whole And spit up the dust of freedom We don’t live in a dystopia Least no more than we did before We do not advance towards a future Of the aphonic poet Least no more than we did before Because this our composition; this our Constitution Establishes that: We the People establish this justice By spitting in the face of tyranny On sleepy, sweet-tea sort of mornings On moss-laden pine-coated duvets I swear the ground rising and receding beneath me in welcome Is the shuddering breath Of an unyielding nation An America in search of her New Colossus
Freedom Will
Freedom is the sound of bells ringing through the air. Freedom is first learning about our country of despair. Freedom is society controlling us with string. Freedom is the golden dome for which we learn to sing. Freedom isn’t always free. Freedom means something new to you and me. Freedom never tells us what is right or wrong. Freedom is a composure That sounds like a song Freedom is confusing For someone who is 14. Freedom is something that’s Never really seen. Freedom is green mountains Rolling up and down. Freedom is the spelling to a complicated noun. Freedom is not knowing What the world holds. Freedom is watching the trees grow old. Freedom will die and freedom will live But freedom will always give and give.