by Lydia Weaver and Avary Hinkle
Power Of The Pen, a creative writing competition for 7th and 8th graders, holds three yearly meets in January, March, and May. Ashland Middle School’s team is coached by Mrs. Hull, 8th-grade language arts teacher. Power of the Pen meetings began in November to prepare students for the competition. Any students interested in writing could join. The competitions do not include public speaking, only writing on a given topic.
In January, the Northeast District 1 competition was held here at Ashland Middle School. Four Ashland students competed: Vanessa Bracamontes, Raylon Cooper, Georgia Hall, and Kaiya Maneese. Two writers, Hall and Manesse, qualified for the Northeast Regional competition, which took place at Kent State University on March 7.
The writing prompt for the regional competition was “Don’t take it personally, but…”. Georgia Hall’s submission, “A Stolen Friend,” was awarded the District Platinum Pen Award and qualified her for the state tournament. This tournament will be held on May 17 and 18 at Ashland University.