A dozen Baltimore County Public Schools students have been selected as the winners of the 2018 Middle School Writing Competition, sponsored by the Literary Arts seniors of George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology.

A student from Parkville Middle School was one of those recognized.

“We had a strong response this year, especially in the area of nonfiction, which was exciting,” said Suzanne Supplee, Literary Arts department chair at Carver Center. “I am especially grateful to the middle school teachers who encourage students to write and submit their work. Winning a writing contest can be a life-changing experience for a young person, a reminder that his/her voice is meaningful and powerful. Their writing can change the world.”

The winning students are:

Poetry

First Place: Anna Sophia Claudio of Parkville Middle
for “Immigrant Fragments: Language Barrier” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Kuczynski)
Second Place: Dan Benna of Hereford Middle
for “Brother” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Siegler)
Third Place: Isabelle Say of Hereford Middle
for “Whalecome to the Beach” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Gent)
Honorable Mention: Quentin Alexander Kostick of Hereford Middle
for “Nuevo Niño del Barrio” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Siegler)

Fiction

First Place: Stella Grace Rose of Catonsville Middle
for “The End” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Bowersox)
Second Place: Grace Hill of Catonsville Middle
for “A Business in the Sky” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Bowersox)
Third Place: Preethi Pai of Hereford Middle
for “Blooming across the Sky” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Siegler)
Honorable Mention: Yusuf Johnson of Dumbarton Middle
for “The Key of Cranestown: An Allegory (sponsoring teacher: Mr. Adams)

Nonfiction

First Place: Ellie Clark Borton of Hereford Middle
for “Adoption” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Siegler)
Second Place: Courtney Elizabeth Craig of Hereford Middle
for “A Venture across the World” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Siegler)
Third Place: Giovanni Jake Carvalho of Hereford Middle
for “Life after Death” (sponsoring teacher: Ms. Klug)
Honorable Mention: Savannah Shafer of Ridgely Middle
for “Dancing My Dream” (sponsoring teacher: Mr. Gerken)

A celebration for winning students, sponsoring teachers, and families will be held on Thursday, April 19, from 6 – 8 p.m. at Carver Center.

The Carver Center Middle School Writing Competition is currently in its 21st year. The competition draws hundreds of entries in the categories of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Each submission is adjudicated using a blind scoring system, and winners are selected based on voice, originality, diction, structure, and content. The contest is supported by a generous grant from the Carver Foundation.