Click here for Microsoft Word version of this press release

Thirteen Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) students, one per grade level, submitted their winning system entries to be judged in the annual Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) and state levels of the Young Georgia Authors' Writing Competition.  Two entries, one from 4th grader Rachel Tao of Marshpoint Elementary School and another from 7th grader Molly Alexander of DeRenne Middle School, placed in the RESA competition and Molly’s piece titled “The Slippery Snake Ordeal” went on to win in the state competition.

Molly and twelve other state winners from various RESA districts, in grades ranging from kindergarten to twelfth, will be recognized for excellence in language arts at the State Board of Education meeting in September 2007.  In addition, each state winner will be acknowledged on the Georgia Department of Education’s webpage.  

The Young Georgia Authors’ Writing Competition encourages young students to develop writing that represents their best efforts, provide a context for schools to support and celebrate the writing successes of all students and encourage and recognize student achievement in writing throughout Georgia. 

All students in grades K-12 can submit entries for the district level competition to be judged by the district.  One district level winner from each grade level is forwarded to the First District RESA and all RESA winning entries from 16 Georgia RESA areas are forwarded to the state competition for judging.  Entries may include short stories, poetry, essays, journals, personal narratives, reports or any other original student writing. 

Congratulations to Rachel, Molly and their teachers, Tahisha Gresham of DeRenne Middle School and Heather Alger of Marshpoint Elementary, for a job well done!  For a complete list of RESA and state winners, click here.