Young Georgia Authors is Back!
by Donald Williams
The school-wide Young Georgia Authors submissions are in, and many teachers are excited about their students’ creative pieces of writing and their chances of winning.
ELA teachers at Howard High School have been advertising and encouraging their students to enter the contest for a chance to win a cash prize and extra credit. Posters, flyers, and even applications have been posted to motivate students to show their creativity.
Matthew Partain, the faculty sponsor of the contest, encourages students to participate and show off their writing skills.
“Young Georgia Authors happens every year in January. I encourage students to write a poem, submit essays, or a writing for an independent test grade, which could be bonus points or opportunities for a course credit,” he said
He has posted more information on the school webpage (https://howardhs.bcsdk12.net/) and sent out many emails to other department members of the school.
Howard High School teachers, Eve Fincher and Katesa Hammonds, have also been influencing many freshmen and upper classman students to enter, as it would look great on their student profile.
“They can do poetry, short stories, any kind of essay, anything like that, and it’s a cash prize. I also put some posters up around the school, along with sending out emails to other teachers,” Fincher said.
Along with Partain, Hammonds also used the same method to encourage students to enter in the contest.
“I encourage them by incentives, letting them know that if they enroll or sign up for it then they can have extra points on assignments,” Hammonds said, “In addition to that, I have some students that are just talented, so I tell them to just put themselves out there. You never know if you’ll win or not,” she said.
Many Howard Students feel that they have more talent at writing than math, which motivates them in creating professional pieces of literature. Teachers consider professional literature to be writing that is authentic, engaging, unique, creative, and attention grabbing. They want students to develop these characteristics to become better writers and to satisfy their audience.
In the end, the creativity and originality of these creations come straight from the students themselves.
Fincher said, “We can’t really help the student write the paper. It’s got to be straight from them. It must come from their own talent and cannot be aided in any way with a teacher.”
To avoid false submission of work, many directors over the event look for any cases of cheating.
In the past, Howard has had many students place in state, and even had some winners. Two years ago, a Howard Husky won the cash prize at state just by creating their own story.
Howard High School has many talented writers. If you are one or strive to be one, don’t miss your chance at next year’s Young Georgia Authors competition.
