COVINGTON, Ga — Grade-level winners of the 2023 District Young Georgia Authors Competition were announced by the Newton County School System (NCSS) Friday, Feb. 17.
"Unlike many writing competitions, Young Georgia Authors does not provide a prompt to which students must respond or provide any other boundaries to their genre choice or creativity beyond a 1,900-word maximum length," a news release stated.
Dr. Helena Foster, elementary district coordinator of the Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition, said entries may include short stories, poetry, essays, journalism, academic research reports, personal narratives, and any other original student writing.
Foster noted that judges looked for expression of ideas, language use, and unique perspective and voice.
All district winners will now have their written work forwarded for consideration in the regional Young Georgia Authors Competition.
“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.”
Newton County Schools’ grade-level winners are:
2023 District Young Georgia Authors Winners
GRADE / SCHOOL / STUDENT / TITLE OF WORK
Kindergarten / Mansfield Elementary / Lana Wall / Christmas
1st Grade / Mansfield Elementary / Riley Almond / Goldie
2nd Grade / Oak Hill Elementary / Kennedy Casler / The Super Kitties
3rd Grade / Flint Hill Elementary / Ny'Rielle Jennings / The Lottery Ticket
4th Grade / Newton County Theme School / Carlos Pena Martinez / Linivious
5th Grade / Newton County Theme School Kately Lane / The Orphanage Mystery
6th Grade / Clements Middle / Sajae Edwards / WW I Essay
7th Grade / Liberty Middle / Payton L. Tremblay / Hound
8th Grade / Clements Middle / Tristyn Kornegay / Grandma's Cookbook
9th Grade / Newton High / Bailey Stover / Kazan the Mighty Warrior
10th Grade / Newton College & Career Academy / Brianna Ryan / Defender of Azalea
11th Grade / Eastside High / Jada Payne / I Lie
12th Grade / Eastside High / Sophie Morton / The Life of a Moth(er)
The competition is open to any student currently enrolled in Georgia public schools, grades K -12.I t is sponsored by the Georgia Language Arts Supervisors (GLAS) and the Georgia RESA Network with support from the Georgia Department of Education.
