Middle School Writing Contest, other news

Welcome once again to our blog. I've been extremely busy planning and implementing our group's second Middle School Writing Competition. We approached teachers and literacy department heads at Kissimmee Middle School, Celebration K-8 School, School for the Arts, Saint Cloud Middle School, and Denn John Middle School who agreed to get the word out to their students to participate.

The students were given four topics to choose from for a 500-1000 word short story. Flyers with the instructions were distributed at the schools on March 30. I extended the deadline until Friday, April 17 because spring break is this week for our county and many of the youth may be away.

Our next challenge is to read and judge the stories and plan the awards ceremony. I would like to display the stories at the Library for about a month like we did last time. We will choose a first, second, and third place winner from each school. Each winner will be presented with a certificate of acheivement and a prize. The ceremony will be held May 8th at the Hart Memorial Library in Kissimmee at 6:00 p.m. after the Literacy in the Arts event. There will be refreshments provided and the first place winners will be asked to read their stories. (or someone will read them if they are too shy).

We are seeking contributions and suggestions for prizes, certificates, certificate frames, help in decorating the display board at the library.

We want to thank the Friends of the Library who is helping to organize the recognition event, providing refreshments, and donating prizes. We also want to thank all the teachers who participated in helping their students prepare for this and in getting the word out for us. I also want to thank anyone who has volunteered to read and judge the stories. Through all your efforts we are contributing to literacy in the community by reaching out to youth and emphasizing the importance of the written word in a fun way for them.