Writing Contests

**For help submitting your writing, email Mrs. Sindt at sindt.kathleen@westside66.net

• Illustrated Poem Contest - Submission deadline October 26th, 2025

  • Each year as part of NCW (National Chemistry Week), ACS (American Chemical Society) sponsors an illustrated poem contest for K-12 students in the US. Please click the link above for the rules, deadlines, and submission information, and check out the winning poems from last year's NCW.

• Bess Streeter Aldrich Short Story Contest - Submission deadline April 15, 2026

  • To honor NE author Bess Streeter Aldrich and recognize outstanding writing, the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation announces its 2026 Short Story Contest. 

    • Prizes: Middle School (grades 6 - 8 ): 

      • 1st Prize $50

      • 2nd Prize $25

      • 3rd Prize $15

  • Click the link for more information

• Virginia Frank Memorial Writing Contest - Spring of 2026

Contests are also posted here:

 https://ey.westside66.org/category/other-events-contests/

Battle of the Books

2025-26 Middle School Book List

1. A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall – Jasmine Warga

2. Kareem Between - Shafa Saltagi Safadi

3. The Wrong Way Home – Kate O’Shaughnessy

4. The Night War – Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

5. The Bletchley Riddle – Ruta Septys and Steve Shenkin

6. Not Quite a Ghost – Anne Ursu

7. The First State of Being – Erin Estrada Kelly

8. Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie – Jordan Sonnenblick

9. The Crossover – Kwame Alexander

10. Operation Do Over – Gordon Korman

Contact the WMS librarian, Mrs. Saetveit, if you are interested in participating in BOTB!