February 24, 2021 at 4:33 p.m.
Celebrating young writers: Students receive awards for annual creative writing contest
Celebrating young writers: Students receive awards for annual creative writing contest
By Stephanie Kuski-
The annual contest is sponsored by the GFWC Rhinelander Woman's Club and is hosted by ArtStart. The student writing was on display at the ArtStart galleries alongside artwork from the School District of Rhinelander K-12 student art exhibition. Although the writing and artwork will soon come off the walls to make room for the gallery's spring exhibition, the submissions can be viewed on a virtual tour of the exhibit created by Nate Sheppard Media that is available on ArtStart's media platforms.
Third- through eighth-grade students from across the school district participated in the creative writing contest. Students submitted written work and a panel of four judges determined the winners in each category, which included poems and short stories from third through fifth-grade students and sixth through eighth-grade students.
First place winners in each category will be submitted to the statewide GFWC creative writing contest. All participants also received an award in addition to a Culver's ice cream token.
GFWC Rhinelander Woman's Club president Cindy Goll was the emcee for the virtual reception while ArtStart's program and operations director Ashley McLaughlin hosted the Zoom event.
Several students had submitted creative writing in last year's contest as well, and many invited their families to join in the virtual awards ceremony.
In the short story category for third- through fifth-grade students, the first place prize was awarded to Sonja Bureta, a fifth-grade student at Pelican Elementary who wrote an exciting fictional tale of "Stargazer the Fearless." Second place went to Pelican student Zoey Fronk for her short story based on a true experience of "Hiking in the U.P." Crescent Elementary student Henry Rivord was awarded third place for his story "Ree's Christmas," while Capri Melton, a fourth-grade student at Crescent, received an honorable mention for "Brittany's Christmas."
Third- through fifth-grade students also submitted poems for the creative writing contest. Third-grade student Greyson Sinnermaker, the youngest entrant in the contest, took home the first place prize for his thoughtful poem that utilized strong contrast. Crescent student Madison Collins was awarded the second place prize for her poem "The Moon and the Sun" while Natalie Forb won third place for her poem about Christmas bells ringing.
Grades six through eight were also divided into categories for poems and short stories. Several contestants who submitted short stories were eighth-grade students at James Williams Middle School in Kristin Higgin's class who were tasked with writing an extra chapter of the classic Mexican-American tale, "Summer of the Mariposas."
Other students submitted stories based on their own life experiences and still others composed submissions from their imagination.
Brooke Sisel, an eighth-grade student at JWMS, took home the first place prize in the sixth through eighth grade short story category. Titled "El Viaje de Cinco Hermanas," Sisel's entry was an edge-of-the seat final chapter to "Summer of the Mariposas." Second place was awarded to Hazel Van Camp, a homeschooled sixth- grade student, who wrote "Anne Quimbly." Lorelai Aylesworth, a sixth-grade student at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School, placed third for her short story "Off the Shore."
Nativity student Brody Kowieski received an honorable mention for his short story "Hurricane Hero" in the sixth through eighth grade category. Participation awards were presented to the remaining contestants who submitted in this category, which included Libbey Buchmann and Oceana Patulski, seventh-grade students at Nativity, in addition to JWMS eighth-grade students Frey Christiansen, Emma Foss, Aiden Ostermann and Iain Rumney.
Poems from sixth- through eighth-grade students was the final category. Ellyse Younker, an eighth-grade Nativity student, was awarded the first place prize for her poem "Ice Fishing." Second and third place prizes were also awarded to eighth- grade students at Nativity: Brynn Teter took home second for her poem "A Clear Camp Night" while Lynnea Kivi won third for "The Pandemic." JWMS eighth-grade students Sophia Parish and Wendy Fronk were both awarded honorable mentions for their poems.
At the virtual awards ceremony, students had the opportunity to talk about their work and what inspires them to write.
Sisters Zoey and Wendy Fronk both participated in the Zoom event and both submitted stories about real-life experiences for the creative writing contest. Zoey wrote her story about a true experience hiking for miles in the woods with her family during a snowstorm over Christmas break while Wendy wrote about conquering her fear of backpacking in order to visit her grandma during quarantine restrictions.
Oceana Patulski, a seventh-grade student at Nativity, said she based her short story "Memories" off a book she read and liked. On the other hand, Sonja Bureta wrote her short story in the world of the fantastical. She said she loves to write about dragons, which are the main characters in her short story. Bureta noted she's been interested in magic and fantasy since she was very young and enjoys writing in that genre.
Former Rhinelander High School English teacher and GFWC Rhinelander Woman's Club member Nancy Kuczmarski also tuned into the virtual reception to hear the students talk about their work. She applauded the student's submissions and encouraged them to continue writing.
Those interested in reading submissions for the annual creative writing contest can visit https://artstartrhinelander.org to view the virtual tour.
Stephanie Kuski may be reached via email at stephanie@ rivernewsonline.com.
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.