Newton County School System students won big at the 2020 Young Georgia Authors Regional Writing Competition, taking home six of the 13 first-place awards.

 NCSS student entries were judged against submissions by students from school systems throughout the Griffin RESA Region, including: Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Pike, Spalding, and Upson school systems. Students participating in the contest could submit entries in the form of short stories, poetry, essay, research 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. 

Oak Hill Elementary School student Jenna Lee Kalland took first place honors in the third grade competition with her story, “The Case of the Missing Sandwich” and fellow Oak Hill student Alexis Stephens earned the first place award in the fifth grade contest with her submission, “The Boat.” 

In the middle school level, Veterans Memorial Middle School student, Demia Striggles, won top honors in the seventh grade competition with her submission, “Rebel” and fellow Veterans Memorial student Shaniya Desears took top honors with her submission, “Enough.” 

NCSS high school students also fared well as Alcovy High School student, Cameron White earned the first place award in the eleventh grade contest with her submission, “Values of a Chick-fil-A Employee” and Newton College & Career Academy student Laura-Jean Dole won top prize in the senior contest with her submission, “Catacombs of Remorse.”

Each student’s work will now be submitted into the state competition. The purpose of the Young Georgia Authors writing competition is to encourage students to develop enthusiasm for and expertise in their writing, to provide a context to celebrate their writing successes, and to recognize student achievement in arts and academics.

“Congratulations to each of our regional winners on a job well done,” 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. For six of the 13 winners to be from our district indicates that we definitely have some very talented writers in our school system. We are excited that they each won at the regional level and I wish them the very best in the state competition!” 

For more information on the Young Georgia Authors’ Contest, contact Sherri Davis, Director of Public Relations for Newton County Schools at davis.sherri@newton.k12.ga.us.