Newton County Schools (NCS) announced the winners of the District Literacy Days Recitation, Drama, Read Aloud and Ready Writing competitions that were recently held at Porter Performing Arts Center.

NCS 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 (Grade, Student, School, Title of Piece)

Kindergarten: Samiya Bennett, Live Oak Elementary, “Hide and Seek”

1st Grade: Ellis Burt, Mansfield Elementary, “Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face”

2nd Grade: Journae Bailey, West Newton Elementary, “Good Morning, Dear Students!”

3rd Grade: Ragan Skidmore, East Newton Elementary, “The Adventures of Isabel”

4th Grade: Felicity Obando, Porterdale Elementary, “The Bubblegum Queen”

5th Grade: Matthias Deacon, Newton County STEAM Academy, “The Adventures of Isabel”

6th Grade: Simisola Fakunle, Newton County STEAM Academy, “The Tyger”

7th Grade: Alyssa Pickard, Newton County STEAM Academy, “The Pig”

8th Grade: Eniah Fonfrias-Fleetion, Clements Middle, “Jabberwocky”

System Ready Writing Competition

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.

Ready Writing Winners (Grade, Student, School, Title of Piece)

3rd Grade: Henry Kelly, Flint Hill Elementary, “The Ancient Ruins of Egypt”

4th Grade: Willow White, Heard-Mixon Elementary, “The Lonely Fox and Wolf”

5th Grade: Jordan Russell, Porterdale Elementary, “Danger-Bot”

6th Grade: Joan Rodriguez, Liberty Middle, “On a Class Trip to the Zoo”

7th Grade, Kaitlyn Wood, Newton County STEAM Academy, “My Life on Mars”

8th Grade, Janella Oshiyemi, Clements Middle, “Do I Want to Live Forever?”

System Read Aloud Competition

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.

Read Aloud Winners (Grade, Student, School, Title of Piece)

Kindergarten: Kyler McCoy, South Salem Elementary, “If I Were an Animal”

1st Grade: Kassidy Clark, South Salem Elementary, “Elow”

2nd Grade: Marlowe Israel, Newton County STEAM Academy, “Love > Great”

System Drama Team Winners

The Mansfield Elementary School drama team took first place honors in the K-2 drama competition with their performance of “We Are in a Book.” Cast members included Maxx Sakir and Phoenix Sims. 

The Porterdale Elementary School drama team earned top place in the grades 3-5 drama competition with their performance of “Wickedly Wonderful: Zelphine’s Tale at Porterdale Academy.” Cast members included Peninah Abong, Aaliyah Armorer, Steven Ellison, Jaliyah Nash, Felicity Obando, Jordan Russell, Willow Smith, Kaylani Snipes, Kylie Snipes and Briella Walker.

At the middle school level, the Cousins Middle School drama team earned first place honors with their performance of “I Am Not Your Fairytale.” Cast members included Kyron Allen, Clifton Dejournett, Skye Jones, Juliana Folson, Michele Jones, Janay Middleton, Chamiyah Daniel and Sadie Robinson.

Winners in the Poetry Recitation, Ready Writing, and Drama competitions will now represent Newton County Schools at the regional competition at Griffin RESA in February.

“These competitions highlight the powerful connection between literacy, the arts, and academic growth,” said Tracy Blackburn, NCS chief of learning and leadership. “When students write, speak, perform, and interpret text, they deepen their understanding and build essential skills that will serve them for life. I am incredibly proud of our students, grateful for the teachers who nurture their growth each day, and thankful for the families whose support makes opportunities like this possible.”

“I know that each one of these students will represent their schools and our district well in the regional competitions.”