COVINGTON, Ga. — The Newton County School System (NCSS) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 District Literacy Days Recitation, Drama, Read Aloud, and Ready Writing competitions.
NCSS elementary and middle schools held poetry competitions at their school and sent their grade level winners to participate in the district’s recitation contest. Competitors were judged on a number of criteria in the poetry recitation contest, including stage presence, articulation, interpretation, memory and accuracy, and difficulty of the piece.
System Recitation Contest Winners
Kindergarten – Jaylee Oats; Newton County Theme School; Proud Wonderfully Made Child
First Grade – Brick Baker; Newton County Theme School; Suzanna Socked Me Sunday
Second Grade – Eliana Hutchinson; Newton County Theme School; I Wonder
Third Grade – Xander Wheeler; Live Oak Elementary School; Try, Try Again
Fourth Grade – Loghan Dudley; Middle Ridge Elementary School; Booker T. and W.E.B.
Fifth Grade – Briley Oller; Newton County Theme School; The Unicorn
Sixth Grade – Maren Poynter; Newton County Theme School; Highway to Happiness
Seventh Grade – Aubrey Norton; Cousins Middle School; Dear Santa
Eighth Grade – Naya Hatchett; Veterans Memorial Middle School; Real Me
System Ready
Writing Winners
In the Ready Writing competition, school-level champions were given a writing prompt and one hour to complete their essays. Students are scored on a rubric of six traits: ideas and content; organization; voice; word choice; sentence fluency; and conventions.
Third Grade – Grace Fowler; Newton County Theme School; A Day with Walt Disney
Fourth Grade – Elijah Perry; Oak Hill Elementary School; I Could Change the World
Fifth Grade – Ariel Shy; Middle Ridge Elementary School; My Most Memorable Day at Middle Ridge Elementary
Sixth Grade – Matthew Lynn; Cousins Middle School; Too Much TV
Seventh Grade – Emilee Beal; Indian Creek Middle School; Culture Studies Class
Eighth Grade – A’Leah Gibson; Liberty Middle School; Space Exploration
System Read Aloud
Winners
Students in kindergarten through second grade participated in the Read Aloud of Best Piece Contest in which students, with the teacher’s assistance, choose a piece from the student’s collected writings to read aloud to the judges. They were scored on topic, words, order, sentences and articulation.
Kindergarten – Wyatt Wood; Newton County Theme; School My Hero
First Grade – Harris Hawver; Mansfield Elementary School; My Three Wishes
Second Grade – Aubree Parrish; Livingston Elementary School; If I Could Change the World by Helping Kids Have a Christmas to Remember
System Drama Team
Winners
The Liberty Middle School drama team took first place honors in the District competition with their performance of, “The Magic Marker Mystery.” Cast members included Kanya Kossonou, Kaylee Ransom, Matthew Rush, Landon Boston, and Jheloni Burt.
Winners in all categories will now represent Newton County School System at the regional competition at Griffin RESA in February, 2021.
“The Literacy Days Competition provides students with the opportunity to perform and be recognized for their talents through the celebration of the arts,” said NCSS Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey. “I am proud of each and every one of our participants as it takes a tremendous amount of talent and commitment to participate in this type of competition. They represented their schools very well.”
She added, “In addition to our poetry recitation, read aloud, and drama team winners, our district ready writing winners are also very talented. I know Newton County School System will be well represented at the Griffin RESA Regional Literacy Days Festival.”
For more information, contact Sherri Davis, director of public relations for Newton County Schools, at davis.sherri@newton.k12.ga.us.
