ROCK SPRINGS — To spark the interest and stimulate youthful imagination, Sweetwater County School District No. 1 (SCSD No. 1) invited students to participate in the Annual Young Author Contest.
“It’s a great opportunity for children to get excited about writing and to earn recognition for participation,” District Coordinator Tammy Macy said. “Everyone gets a certificate of participation, one way or another.”
The contest is not required or part of any mandatory curriculum. Instead it is an opportunity for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade to explore their writing skills and storytelling abilities.
After submissions are received, they are judged based on age and category as well as much more specific criteria including: ideas and content, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, presentation and mechanics. Every entry is double scored for validity.
This year the district had more than 500 entries. It is a tight schedule to go through all of the submissions, Macy said, but she is happy to increase the amount of entries she will see this year.
“I really enjoy reading the entries, they can be a lot of fun” Macy said.
SCSD No. 1 recognizes all participants with a Certificate of Participation and a goodie bag. First, second and third place winners were recognized at the district celebration on February 17. First place winners received a trophy and journal and will be eligible to compete at the county level. Second place and third place winners were recognized with trophies as well.
First place winners in SCSD No. 1, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 and the Holy Spirit Catholic School are passed along to the county coordinators for further judging. At the county level, there will be one winner and two honorable mentions selected at each grade level in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. These winners will be recognized with trophies at a county level celebration to be held March 3.
Pictures and winning stories from both celebrations can be viewed here.
