In 2015, my seventh grade student was a semi-finalist in the Letters About Literature contest.
Read Taylor S.’s personal response to The Book Thief.
Excerpt: “Is death what we fear or is it the challenges of life? I’ve asked myself this question through this entire piece of literature. Death follows young Liesel Meminger through her life as they meet through death and tragedy. When young Liesel’s brother dies, she steals a book at the cemeterybecause it is all she has left to remind herself of her brother. I empathize with Leisel in this moment, having to cling on to something to remind you of the one you’ve lost. When I lost my grandfather, I felt that it wasn’t real. I told myself “this isn’t real.” As we went through his things after he died, I kept something of his: a box of army mementos. At the time I didn’t know what many of the things meant, but they helped me feel like he was still with me such as Liesel felt.”
In 2010 and in 2011, my sixth grade students won the Georgia Municipal Association’s “If I were Mayor” contest. Typically, the Georgia Municipal Association gets 6,000 entries every year from the 12 districts in Georgia. For two years in a row, my students won for their district.
Read the 2010 essay by Brian C. (pictured on the left) and the 2011 essay by Avery D.
In 2007, my middle school students won first, second, and third places for the Combining Voices writing contest sponsored by the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, GA. Combining Voices is a special literary competition that encourages students in grades 4 – 12 to write a short story or poem inspired by one of the paintings from the Morris Museum’s permanent collection.Read the first place short story, “The Snotty Lady” by Haleigh N., which was inspired by Bargain Basement (pictured to the left) by Lamar Dodd.