The Prairie Lands Writing Project at Missouri Western State University has announced the winners in this year’s Missouri Writing Region for the national Scholastic Writing Awards Contest. The winners have received regional awards for their outstanding writing through the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a 90-year-old national program that recognizes outstanding creative teenagers.
Winners from the Kansas City and northwest Missouri region include students from Excelsior Springs Middle School, Maryville High School, Park Hill High and South High Schools, Platte City Middle and High Schools, St Joseph Bode Middle and Central High Schools, Sherwood High School and Winston High School. See the attached list for the names of students and their teachers.
The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists and Writers administers the Awards in partnership with its 107 affiliate organizations, including the Missouri Writing Region, which judges contest entries from throughout the state as well as those submitted from the Kansas City, Kan. region.
“This year, we received 669 writing submissions from students in the Missouri Region,” said Thomas Pankiewicz, assistant professor of English, Prairie Lands Writing Project director and the Missouri Writing Region Coordinator for the Scholastic Contest.
“Each contest entry was read carefully and scored twice by a panel of jurors consisting of authors and teachers—who did not know the identity of the writer or the other reader’s score in assigning ratings. We then selected 119 pieces as Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention winning regional entries,” said Pankiewicz.
The winning students, their teachers, and their parents were honored at an awards ceremony as a part of the state’s annual Write to Learn Conference on March 1 at Osage Beach, MO. See http://www.missouriwestern.edu/mowriting/winners2013.html for the entire roster of regional winners; their winning pieces will be published in Missouri Youth Write 2013, an online publication, by June 5.
The Missouri Writing Region is an affiliate of the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. It is sponsored by Prairie Lands Writing Project at Missouri Western State University, the Missouri Writing Projects Network and the Missouri Association of Teachers of English.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.
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