The Newton County School System announces the winners of the district-level, 2021 Young Georgia Authors’ Contest. 

Each school could submit one entry per grade level for grades kindergarten through 12 into the county competition in the form of short stories, poetry, essays, journals, personal narratives, reports, or other original student writing. 

Submissions were judged on four domains as reflected in the Georgia Standards of Excellence — ideas, organization, cohesiveness, and language.

Newton County School System’s winning authors will now compete against students in the Griffin RESA group, which includes the following school systems: Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Pike, Spalding, and Thomaston-Upson.

Representing Newton County School System are the following 2021 grade-level winners:

K, Porterdale Elementary, Riiyan McLean, "My Family"

1, East Newton Elementary, Sam Acox, "The Best Kind of Pizza"

2, Porterdale Elementary, Carlos Martinez-Pena, "Rockboy Brothers"

3, Middle Ridge Elementary, Serenity Moore, "The Cat Girl"

4, West Newton Elementary, Alexis Bradley, "The Drawing Book of Wonder"

5, Middle Ridge Elementary, Victoria Hernandez, "The Great Quest"

6, Indian Creek Middle, Jimmy Thomas, "The Neptune XIII"

7, Clements Middle, Mnema Hamid, "Forgotten"

8, Newton County Theme School, Annalie Parker, "The Reason Why"

9, Alcovy High, Elizabeth Bryans, "Instant Medicine"

10, Eastside High, Ava Schlueter, "Voice"

11, Eastside High, Dixon Carter, "It Could've Been Me"

12, Eastside High, Allysa Buckley, "She"

“Congratulations to each of the winners in the Young Georgia Authors Contest,” said NCSS Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey. “Writing skills are crucial, as the ability to write well can be the ticket to better grades and greater academic achievement. In addition, the ability to write well will be a key asset once students enter the workforce and begin their career progression. 

"I commend these students for a job well done. Our school district definitely has some very talented writers and I wish them well in the next phase of competition."