Young Writers’ Contest 2011

By Brenda deJamaer

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 31^st annual Santa Paula Elementary School District’s Young Writers’ Contest. There were over 850 entries in the creative writing contest that yielded 81 winners in grades 1 through 8.

Brenda deJamaer, Library Ed. specialist and coordinator of the District-wide contest, presented the young writers with their awards at a special recognition ceremony held on the evening of May 24, at Isbell School. Prizes were awarded at each grade level in the categories of poetry and short story. All winners from honorable mention to 1^st place received certificates. Cash prizes of $20 for each 1^st place, $10 for each 2^nd place, and $5 for each 3^rd place were awarded.

Students wrote about family, friends, school life, animals, food, beauty, technology and aliens. Poetry entries were very creative, humorous, emotional, and descriptive. Short story entries covered many genres including adventure, fantasy, mystery, realistic fiction, historical fiction and science fiction. Mrs. deJamaer stated she very much enjoyed reading the entries and is thrilled with the creativity and imagination of the students.

Judging for this contest was not a simple assignment, as evident from one judge’s comment: “I was really impressed with the short stories. So much so, I was really challenged to choose just one 10.” A “10” is what the judges give to the story/poem they rank as #1.

A big “THANK YOU” goes out to our 14 judges who gave their time and expertise to this task. The judges were Julia Copeland, Jeri Mead and Patty Jones from the School District; Pat Alderson, Norah Byrom, Phyllis Dorsey, Jackie Kwasny, Mary Schaeffer and Lydia Valencia, who are retirees from the School District; Bev Mueller, Dan Robles, and Ilene Gavenman from the Blanchard Community Library; Suzi Skutley from the Santa Paula Times; and Teri Rhodehamel, a published poet from the community.

The Santa Paula Federation of Teachers provided and served refreshments of cake and punch for the winners and their family after the awards ceremony. Cash prizes were donated by Jerry Burns, with contributions from Pat Alderson and CSEA Chapter 497.

Congratulations to this year’s Young Writers!!

GRADE 1 POETRY

1^st - Aliana Molina, “Pancakes” 2^nd - TIE - Diego Murillo, “Black at Night”; Angela Beck, “Little Sister” 3^rd - Lillian Newton, “Purple Flowers”

GRADE 1 STORY

1^st - Mya Love Hernandez, “The Cat and Dog” 2^nd - TIE - Mathew Cardoza, “The Animals”; Kenya Valdez, “My Dream Gift”

3^rd - TIE - Jennifer Vidal, “The Library”; Alina Garcia, “Pumpkin Patch” Honorable Mention - Emma Lewis, “The Snake and the Mouse”; Sean Pettit, “Fun at the Snow”

GRADE 2 POETRY

1^st - Abel Chaveste, “Gold”

2^nd - Alex Luna, “I am the Hunter” 3^rd - Hayden Galvan, “The Trees” Honorable Mention - Ace Rounds, “Four Little Friends”; Jenoveva Melchor, “My Favorite Bird”

GRADE 2 STORY

1^st - Jasmine Venegas, “Backwards Day” 2^nd - Jaycob Orozco, “The Extraordinary Socks”

3^rd - TIE - Hayden Galvan, “Mice in the Attic”; Tyler Garces, “Space Man Stan”

Honorable Mention - Bianca Coria Carrasco, “The Very Hungry Dinosaur”; Krysten Vasquez, “Walking a Dog”; Maya Salgado, “The Magic Pencil”

GRADE 3 POETRY

1^st - Xavier Garcia, “The Moon” 2^nd - Nadine Vasquez, “Red Fox”

3^rd - Noah Sanchez, “My Family” Honorable Mention - Nicholas James Medrano, “Rock Crab”; Agustin Lua, “Winter Days”

GRADE 3 STORY

1^st - TIE - Bella Hernandez, “The Magic Library”; Julia Fernandez, “Little Flower’s Adventure”

2^nd - Andrea Gonzalez    “The Two Sisters” 3^rd - TIE - Kolby Wilkinson, “The Boy Who Messed with a Hydra”; Agustin Lua, “I Shrunk”

Honorable Mention - Alaysia Molina, “An Alligator with a Sign”

GRADE 4 POETRY

1^st - Carissa Rodriguez, “In My Dreams”

2^nd - Antonino Fiorentino, “When I fall asleep”