Middle school students win awards in creative writing competition

Monticello Middle School Power of the Pen winners at the district tournament.

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Roxboro and Monticello middle school students took home several awards at the Power of the Pen district tournament on Jan. 10.

More than 200 seventh- and eighth-grade writers from the greater Cleveland area participated in the district-level creative writing competition held at Monticello Middle School.

Roxboro's Sophie Fleischer won first place and Best of Round 2 for seventh-graders, and Monticello’s Suvedini Ainkaran won Best of Round 2 for eighth-graders. The Roxboro seventh-grade team took fourth place overall.

Other district students who placed in the competition were:

• Naomi Hardin, Monticello seventh-grader, 8th place
• Timothy McGee, Monticello seventh-grader, 12th place
• Chantee McMillan, Monticello eighth-grader, 3rd place
• Rajani Tabor, Roxboro seventh-grader, 13th place

The competition consists of three rounds. Participants are given a prompt and 40 minutes to develop a creative story around it. 

“The Power of the Pen program is a writing competition that motivates and challenges our students to pursue excellence in the art of creative writing. We believe that creativity is the language we use, the way we think and our ability to solve problems that beg for a solution,” said Deborah Frost, on-site coordinator and eighth-grade coach. Lee Anne Chambers was the seventh-grade coach.

Guest readers for Best of Round winners included George Thomas, a sports writer at the Akron Beacon Journal; Cynthia Larsen, of Lake Erie Ink; and Toia Robinson, the district's coordinator of gifted and fine arts.