Two Gates school pupil Jack Cairns netted football goodies and praise from a world-famous poet when he won a competition run by Aston Villa.
Last month, to mark Black History month, the Aston Villa Foundation recruited legendary Brummie poet, Foundation ambassador and life-long Villa fan Benjamin Zephania to launch a poetry contest aimed at key stage two students across the West Midlands.
The competition challenged children to write a poem on Black History Month, or on a role model who is important to them. This could be a family member, a celebrity or even a footballer.
And nine-year-old Jack entered the contest, along with his classmates at Two Gates Primary School, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.
Last week they watched in amazement as a special video was shown to the class – in which Benjamin Zephania declared Jack the winner!
In the video, Benjamin said: “Jack’s poem is great – it’s to the point, it’s honest and it speaks in a way that is very direct.
“Well done Jack, it’s a brilliant piece of work!”
Then the famous poet read Jack’s poem:
So, as we talk about Black History,
It was once brushed under the carpet where no one could see,
But now we openly share and understand,
That everyone is equal, in all the land,
There’s no good having fights,
Because we all should have the same rights.
For winning the contest Jack -a Villa fan – won a pair of tickets to see the team’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion, a Villa shirt and lots of other goodies.
Jack said: “I wrote my poem because I want people to stop judging others because of their skin colour.”
“I really enjoyed the game, it was amazing to have a win, there were cracking goals. It was a great day – I was cheering really loudly with my dad and my friend Oliver. Thank you for picking me!”
Headteacher Nêst Llewelyn-Cook said: “We are very proud of Jack. With a few well-chosen words, his Black History poem speaks volumes. Jack was really humble in his achievement and all his classmates were delighted to watch the video and celebrate his success.”