The Newton County School System (NCSS) is pleased to announce that five middle and high school students have been named 2016 Regional Winners of the Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition. Each of the students won their grade-level in the district competition and then competed with grade-level winners from the following school systems assigned to the Griffin Regional Educational Services Agency (RESA): Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Pike, Spalding, and Thomaston-Upson.

Student submissions, which could be in the form of short stories, poetry, essays, journals, personal narratives, reports, or other original student writing, were judged on four domains as reflected in the Georgia Performance Standards—ideas, organization, cohesiveness, and language.

The Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition is sponsored by the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE) and is open to students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. Newton County School System’s Regional Winners, whose winning entries will now move on to the state-level competition for another round of judging, include:

 

GRADE	SCHOOL	STUDENT	TITLE OF WORK
6	Cousins Middle	Eva Fuhrey	“Living History: Dr. Fredrick Douglas Reese”
8	Indian Creek Middle	Miranda Sarai Baker	“Destruction”
9	Eastside High	Sean Fulmer	“To the Line”
10	Eastside High	Molly Carter	“Just Fine”
11	Eastside High	Mary Grace Schlueter	“Deciding How I Feel”

 

According to the GCTE, “the purpose of 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 all of our Young Georgia Author’s Competition winners,” said NCSS Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey. “I am extremely proud of the fact that we had so many students selected to compete at the state level! The success of our students in this regional competition is a testament to their hard work and the support and guidance of their teachers and families.  I am looking forward to learning the outcome of the state competition. I am confident each of these students will represent their schools and our system well.”