Local elementary school students/authors took to the stage on March 15 for the 13th annual Children's Writing Contest award ceremony, run by William Woods University.
The contest was started by members of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society, who wanted to promote literacy and creativity in the Fulton community. It was open to local elementary schools and there were more than 50 entries.
"The submissions are so different every year," said Erik Hillskemper, an English professor at William Woods who organized the event. "This year we had a mix of stories and poems. One poem rhymed 'toucan' with 'pecan'. I've been reading poetry my whole life and I've never seen that combination of sounds before. There was a story where the hero was a spider and the villain was a bunny! By far the strongest trend I saw was kids writing about their pets - the connections between children and cuddly animals were on prominent display."
The contest was judged by William Woods professors and students, and winners received gift bags of school supplies, candy and a bound copy of all the stories. Abigail Cummings, of Bartley Elementary, was the overall winner for the contest. The winners include:
From Kingdom
Christian Academy:
Mrs. Kline's 3rd grade class
First Place: "The Dream" by Rylee Phillips
Second Place: "The Day the Cows Came Home" by Peyton Davis
Third Place: "The Cupcake Queen" by Laylah Rosenthal
Mrs. Bowen's 2nd grade class
First Place: "The Birds" by Colton W. Lewis
Second Place: "Boom! Pop! Screech!" by Caroline Forker
Third Place: "Early Morning" by Hailey Rosenthal
From Bartley Elementary
Ms. DuBuque's 2nd grade class
First Place: "Cinderella and the Man" by Kelsie McNamer
Second Place: "A Pet's Life" by Ellie Walsh
Third Place: "Welcome to the Deadhouse" by Tessalee Pinet
Ms. Garwood's 2nd grade class
First Place: "My Trip to St. Louis" by Abigail Cummings
Second Place: "Goosebumps: How I turned into a Werewolf" by Lillian Purcell
Third Place: "Spy Ella's Web" by Audrie B.
