The Department of English and Foreign Languages at Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, and the Gerald F. and Betty Fincher Scott Academic Endowment, recently sponsored its annual youth writing festival on the University campus.<\/p>\n
The endowment is made possible through Harold and D.J. Fincher and the Peoples Bank of Magnolia and Waldo.<\/p>\n
Founded by Dr. Kathleen Mallory, assistant professor of English at SAU, the purposes of the festival are to get students more involved in writing; to give students recognition for outstanding work; to motivate students to write more; to develop more fluent, competent writers; and to help raise awareness about the importance of writing.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 entries were received in grades 1-12 for participation in the festival writing contest. Writing categories included poems, short stories, and essays. Students were judged by category and grade level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe the entries are getting better year after year,\u201d said Dr. Elizabeth Davis, chair of the Department of English and Foreign Languages.<\/p>\n
The festival concluded with an awards ceremony. Overall first place winners in each category received a named award, certificate, trophy, and cash award. Overall second and third place winners received a certificate and cash award.<\/p>\n
Winners of the Youth Writing Festival included the following:
\nGrades 1-3
\nElementary Poem
\nGerald F. Scott Award, Kiera Longing, \u201cCrazy Sounds,\u201d Smackover Elementary School.
\nSecond Place, Brooklyn Waller, \u201cRobot Horse One Ninety-Nine,\u201d Hugh Goodwin Elementary School.
\nThird Place, Jennifer Hayes, \u201cRed Poem,\u201d Smackover Elementary School.
\nElementary Short Story
\nGerald F. Scott Award, Ranie Holland, \u201cToad and the Flowers,\u201d Emerson Elementary School.
\nSecond Place, Summer Lee, \u201cThe Shrinking Potion,\u201d Delight Elementary School.
\nThird Place, Justice Oglethrope, \u201cThe Two Best Friends,\u201d Northwest Elementary School.
\nElementary Essay
\nGerald F. Scott Award, Riley House, \u201cThe Bald Eagle,\u201d Delight Elementary School.
\nSecond Place, Jodi Hudman, \u201cHorses,\u201d Mount Holly Elementary School.
\nThird Place, Greg Edmunds, \u201cSpiders,\u201d Northwest Elementary School.
\nGrades 4-6
\nIntermediate Poem
\nBetty Fincher Scott Award, Olivia LaBella, \u201cMy Back Yard,\u201d Parkers Chapel Elementary School.
\nSecond Place, Shanterica Crockett, \u201cStudent Prayer,\u201d Central Elementary School.
\nThird Place, Jade Matthews, \u201cThe Log Cabin,\u201d Huttig Elementary School.
\nIntermediate Short Story
\nBetty Fincher Scott Award, Sierra Strickland, \u201cStranded,\u201d Central Elementary School.
\nSecond Place, Remington Reed, \u201cWar of the Tribes,\u201d Central Elementary School.
\nThird Place, Christine Schonefeld, \u201cVacation Mystery,\u201d Washington Middle School.
\nIntermediate Essay
\nBetty Fincher Scott Award, River Kirkham, \u201cStorms,\u201d Delight Elementary School.
\nSecond Place, Janilo Woodley, \u201cHail Storms,\u201d Delight Elementary School.
\nThird Place, Gregory Edwards, \u201cFootball Tips,\u201d Central Elementary School.
\nGrades 7-9
\nJunior High Poem
\nD.J. Fincher Award, Jessica Cheng, \u201cRice Krispie Treats,\u201d Magnolia Junior High School.
\nSecond Place, Alex Hoffman, \u201cShadow,\u201d Magnolia Junior High School.
\nThird Place, Nickole Frazier, \u201cGreatest Fear,\u201d Smackover High School.
\nJunior High Short Story
\nD.J. Fincher Award, Jesse \u201cJ.T.\u201d Thomason, \u201cSurreal,\u201d Ouachita Junior High School.
\nSecond Place, Whitney Allen, \u201cOnce Upon My Time,\u201d Magnolia Junior High School.
\nThird Place, Gideon Curlin, \u201cLife,\u201d Ouachita Junior High School.
\nJunior High Essay
\nD. J. Fincher Award, Timothy Horton of Waldo, \u201cToday\u2019s Patriots,\u201d home schooled.
\nSecond Place, Victoria Lehen, \u201cEmily Dickinson,\u201d Barton Junior High School.
\nThird Place, Trisha Emborgo, \u201cThe Importance of Crash Test Dummies,\u201d Barton Junior High School.
\nGrades 10-12
\nHigh School Poem
\nHarold Fincher Award, Dustin Owen, \u201cDeath\u2019s Deadly Dance,\u201d Taylor High School.
\nSecond Place, Sydney Kilgore, \u201cA Prologue of the Sixteenth Autumn,\u201d Camden Fairview High School.
\nThird Place, Hannah Horton of Waldo, \u201cDistant Watchman,\u201d homeschooled.
\nHigh School Short Story
\nHarold Fincher Award, Scott Banks, \u201cParanoid,\u201d Ouachita High School.
\nSecond Place, Matthew Herring, \u201cFear In Becoming,\u201d Bismarck High School.
\nThird Place, Stacie Lein, \u201cDeadly Night,\u201d Parkers Chapel High School.
\nHigh School Essay
\nHarold Fincher Award, Taylor Wynn, \u201cFantastic Lies,\u201d Parkers Chapel High School.
\nSecond Place, Sara Caller, \u201cThe Many Sides of Hamlet,\u201d Taylor High School.
\nThird Place, ShaQuanda Mixon, \u201cConsolidation,\u201d Waldo High School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department of English and Foreign Languages at Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, and the Gerald F. and Betty Fincher Scott Academic Endowment, recently sponsored its annual youth writing festival on the University campus.<\/p>\n
The endowment is made possible through Harold and D.J. Fincher and the Peoples Bank of Magnolia and Waldo.<\/p>\n
Founded by Dr. Kathleen Mallory, assistant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[207,312],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-college-of-liberal-performing-arts","7":"category-english-and-foreign-language","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}