SCHOLASTIC AWARD WINNERS

The following are 7-8 grade language arts Scholastic Awards:



SCHOLASTIC AWARD WINNERS



Birchwood students grab national limelight. Four middle grade students were recognized on the national level for the Scholastic Writing Awards of 2008! Sahar A (8) received the coveted national gold award. Receiving the national silver awards were George B (8), Thomas W (7), Isaac Y (7). This distinction placed these four students at the top one percent of all submissions across the country in this prestigious competition.



Seventh and eighth grade students each submitted longer narratives in their category of choice after many revisions. Sahar’s short short story entitled “Bird” was an allegory of how a young person struggled to overcome destitution and fly free of his bounds. George wrote a humorous piece called “Hang On, Sloopy” to portray the perspective of a teen as he coped with football-fanatic of a dad, obsessing over his favorite team during the National Championships. In “Wings”, a fantasy by Thomas, a boy discovered his roots even as he is faced with tough decisions when his long lost father reclaimed him. Finally, Isaac’s “Ninth Section” centered around two special agents in a secret organization who ventured into space to save Earth from a dying sun.



The national winners together with six other Birchwood students have been recognized with Gold Key Awards at the regional level. As the Senior Manager of this national program noted: Only the most accomplished works submitted to the regional programs of The Awards earn Gold Keys; out of 5000 submissions in the writing category of the Region-at-Large this year, 1000 works were given this distinction, which were then submitted for consideration at the national level.



Recognized for their creative achievement at the Regional:

Sahar A - “Bird”, Short Short Story Category

George B – “Hang On, Sloopy”, Humor Category

Nathan C – “The Easy Way Out of It”, Short Story Category

Jacques D – “Beyond Haven”, Science Fiction Category

Oliver D – “The Evil of Greed”, Short Story Category

Sam J – “They Called Them Thieves”, Science Fiction Category

Jocelyn L – “Dragons, Hawks, and Moonstones”, Science Fiction Category

Sarah L – “Shot to the Heart”, Short Story

Thomas W – “Wings”, Science Fiction Category

Isaac Y – The Ninth Section, Science Fiction Category



The national award winners were also invited to join the celebration in New York at Carnegie Hall from June 4 – 6 which includes creative industry workshops. View their names on the recipient list and find out more about the competition at http://www.artandwriting.org/assets/pressreleases/2008/National_Recip.pdf.