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Boardman fourth-grader honored by Pittsburgh Pirates
BOARDMAN
Little did he know that by writing about one of his all-time favorite baseball players, Robinwood Lane fourth-grader Austin Ward would get to meet another one.
After Austin won his division in the Pittsburgh Pirates 2015 Jackie Robinson Art, Essay and Poetry Contest, the team recognized him at a game April 15 for Major League Baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day.
Austin, the son of Matt and Sherrie Ward, got to attend a banquet with his parents and sister, was recognized on the field, and got souvenirs such as a hat, a ball signed by pitcher Vance Worley, a T-shirt and game tickets.
The highlight for him, however, was getting a picture with Pirates center-fielder Andrew McCutchen.
“He’s my favorite,” Austin said. “It was so cool meeting him. I couldn’t believe it when he walked in.”
Austin’s winning poem — which was one of 3,800 contest entries and about 18 winners — was based on a personal connection he feels to Robinson.
“Jackie, you inspire me. ... You kept on trying and trying. You never gave up. Your persistence was key, every step of the game. ... Keeping calm you had to be, when noisy fans taunted you. Today, black and white play the game, but, without a doubt, you still have fame,” the poem reads.
Austin, who plays Boardman Community Baseball, says he’s inspired by how Robinson dealt with hateful baseball fans.
“I look up to him,” he said. “Whenever the ref makes a bad call, I have to shake it off,” like Robinson shook off racist viewers.
“I was just thinking about him, what he did, what he went through. Then I just kind of put it together and made it flow,” Austin said.
Austin, along with other Robinwood Lane students, entered the contest as an assignment for his language arts enrichment class with teacher Jan Zorman.
“It was amazing what the kids came up with,” said Zorman, who has students enter the contest every year. This was the first year one of her students won.
The contest aims to teach students about Robinson and his values in celebration of the day in 1947 when Robinson broke the race barrier in Major League Baseball. For the poetry division, students were asked to explore one or more of Robinson’s values of success in 10 to 12 lines.
The Pirates “are trying to teach the kids that you have to have determination, you have to have strength,” Zorman said. “Most of these kids will never forget Jackie Robinson because of all the writing they did.”
Austin — whose father jokingly called him the “Bard of Boardman” — says he plans to keep on writing.
“The fact that he got recognized — I’m incredibly proud of the boy,” his dad said.