Writing: The spark of imagination that encourages a young person to put pen to paper, or, nowadays, to type out feelings on a keyboard. Whether it is a story, poem, or essay; whatever inspiration may strike, becoming a writer at a young age has long been accepted as the foundation of a solid education.
Recently, close to 60 original written works were submitted by students from school districts belonging to Okefenokee Regional Educational Services Agency (RESA) for the annual Young Georgia Authors writing competition. Regardless of the format, if it was written, it was eligible.
“The only qualification is that it has to be original student writing,” said Cindy Hitt, an ELA/SS Specialist with Okefenokee RESA. “The student cannot have any input from a parent or teacher in terms of editing.”
Five school systems participated in this year’s contest (Atkinson, Brantley, Coffee, Pierce, and Ware), with each sending its grade winners to be judged at the RESA. Listed below are the winners for each grade in this year’s area contest.
Recognizing and encouraging the efforts of young writers is what the Young Georgia Authors writing competition is about. Students in every grade submitted their work to the contest in hopes of making it to the statewide competition. Students first compete within their own school system, and winners are chosen and sent to the RESA. Winners from there go on to compete at the state level; last year, JaNoy Sumner, a student from Waycross Middle School, was a Georgia winner for seventh grade.
There are 16 judges at the area level who judge within grade bands to score the writing entries.
“We were thrilled to have retired teachers and community members who have experience teaching and working with student writing to help us judge the entries,” Hitt said. “Judges look for good writing appropriate to the grade level.”
Guidelines emphasize qualities of good writing such as strong ideas, sequenced organization, cohesiveness and style, and good grammar.
For more than 20 years, the Young Georgia Authors competition has encouraged students to become enthusiastic about writing by recognizing their achievements. It is open to students enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grades in a Georgia public school and sponsored by the Georgia Council of Teachers of English with the cooperation of the Georgia Department of Education.
Caption for photo:
Okefenokee RESA hosted an awards reception to honor the RESA district winners and the teachers who encourage their accomplishments. “We wish them well as they compete at the state level,” RESA Executive Director, Peggy Stovall remarked. Winners pictured are: (front row) Camp Hopkins, Olivia Sanders, Erin Meeks, Randall Gunter, Luke Stone and (back row) Victoria Blaisdell, Dalton Santiago, Kayla Rowell, Alexis Purvis. Not pictured: Mylee Mills, Kennedy Brice, Jordan Williams, and Faith James.
Winners of the Okefenokee RESA’s Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition
Kindergarten
Patterson Elementary, Pierce County
Luke Stone
Einims Get In Trubl
1st Grade
Williams Heights Elementary, Ware County
Camp Hopkins
The Miagicl Dino Dream
2nd Grade
Westside Elementary, Coffee County
Mylee Mills
The Battle of the Gods
3rd Grade
Wacona Elementary, Ware County
Olivia Sanders
The Woods
4th Grade
Midway Elementary, Pierce County
Talmadge “Randall” Gunter
The Poor Partying King
5th Grade
Waresboro Elementary, Ware County
Erin Meeks
The Edge of the Escape
6th Grade
Waycross Middle School, Ware County
Kennedy Brice
The Blue Crayon
7th Grade
Coffee Middle School, Coffee County
Alexis Purvis
Curiosity Killed the Cat
8th Grade
Waycross Middle School, Ware County
Jordan Williams
The Lightning that Never Struck
9th Grade
Atkinson High School, Atkinson County
Faith James
Yesterday is Gone
10th Grade
Brantley High School, Brantley County
Victoria Blaisdell
The Yellow Room
11th Grade
Atkinson High School, Atkinson County
Kayla Rowell
Obsessive Compulsive
12th Grade
Brantley High School, Brantley County
Dalton Santiago
The Day I Die
Southeast Georgia/ May 2016
Young Georgia Authors
By Rob Asbell
Southeast Georgia Young Writers Shine
Photos by Okefenokee (RESA)
