The Newton County School System (NCSS) is pleased to announce that three NCSS elementary school students won first place at the 2024 Griffin RESA Regional 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, sponsored by the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE), 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
Kindergarten	Oak Hill Elementary	Tanner Jaynes	The Boy & the Two-Headed Dragon
2nd Grade	Oak Hill Elementary	Leshauna Nelson	Visiting Heaven for a Day
3rd Grade	South Salem Elementary	Allie Danilchuk	Alice in Winterland

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.”

“Writing is important across all disciplines, but as a former English teacher I value its power in the creative realm,” said Benjamin Roundtree, NCSS Director of Elementary Schools. “Our winners from Newton County Schools demonstrate that creative writing is indeed a craft, and they are fine examples of young masters. I congratulate them and wish them continued success.”