Student Competitions

River of Words

Coordinated in Georgia by the Georgia Center for the Book and Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), a program of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, River of Words is a national poetry and art competition. Students in grades 4-12 are invited to create visual art or poetry that shows an understanding and appreciation of their natural environment, and specifically of their own watershed.

More than 100,000 entries have been submitted since the program began in 1997. Thousands of students have participated in Georgia; more than 2,000 entries in three grade categories were received in 2008. Entries are judged on a state and national level; Georgia has had several National Grand Prize Winners in recent years.

Students with winning entries are invited to an awards ceremony each year. The 2008 event was held May 4 at the Chattahoochee Nature Center with more than 200 students, families and friends in attendance. The winners for 2008 in poetry are:

POETRY

National Finalists

Joe Carnaroli

15, grade 9, West Forsyth High School, Cumming

Katie Garmon

14, grade 9, West Forsyth High School, Cumming

Kendall Pakula

17, grade 12, Roswell High School, Roswell

State Winners

M. Branch Austinson

7, grade 1, Home school, Bainbridge

Ansley Claire Gerretzen

6, grade 1, Casa Montessori, Marietta

Sam Larsen

8, grade 2, Casa Montessori, Marietta

Bryce McKinney

6, grade 1, C.L. Gideons Elementary, Atlanta

Matthew Reingold

6, grade 1

Isaac Wilson

7, grade 2, Upson Lee South, Thomaston

Sindhu Kannappan

9, grade 3, Casa Montessori, Marietta

Bradley Keith

11, grade 6, Bennett’s Mill Middle School, Fayetteville

Ahiliya Nat

10, Grade 4, Barnwell Elementary, Alpharetta

Amber Phillips

9, grade 4, Armuchee Elementary, Rome

Adam Wayton

12, grade 6, Bennett’s Mill Middle School, Fayetteville

Dayna Maxfield

13, grade 8, Bennett’s Mill Middle School, Fayetteville

Lauren Sykora

13, grade 7, Riverwatch Middle School, Suwanee

Matthew Thomas

13, grade 8, Bennett’s Mill Middle School, Fayetteville

Sarah Bahr

15, grade 10, Roswell High School, Roswell

Ashleigh Brooks

17, grade 12, Roswell High School, Roswell

Autumn Fitzgerald

18, grade 12, Maranatha Christian Academy, Oakwood

Keith Gilbert

14, grade 9, West Forsyth High School, Cumming

Aaron Jones

16, grade 10, Tucker High School, Tucker

Emilie Menzel

15, grade 10, Parkview High School, Lilburn

Laura Stubbs

17, grade 11, Bulloch Academy, Statesboro

VISUAL ART

National Finalists

Paul Brown

16, grade 11, Decatur High School, Decatur

Alana Handman

16, grade 10, Decatur High School, Decatur

Kasey Rogers

8, grade 3, Barnwell Elementary School, Alpharetta

Eric Stokes

13, grade 7, Columbia County 4-H, Martinez

State Winners

Tyler Anglin

8, grade 2, St. Mary’s Elementary, St. Mary’s

Baylor Cantrell

7, grade 2, Due West Elementary, Marietta

Kinsey Garreau

9, grade 2, Maranatha Christian Academy, Oakwood

Michael McDaniel

6, grade K, Mansfield Elementary, Mansfield

Nicole Rocheteau

8, grade 2, Casa Montessori, Marietta

Emily Bachner

12, grade 6, Davis Academy, Atlanta

Rebecca Benfield

12, grade, Maranatha Christian Academy, Oakwood

Samuel Choi

11, grade 6, Bennett’s Mill Middle School, Fayetteville

Anika Mitchell

11, grade 6, Casa Montessori, Marietta

Chandler Pennington

11, grade 6, Georgia Military College Prep, Milledgeville

Andrew Sexton

11, grade 6, Maranatha Christian Academy, Oakwood

Luke Tassopoulos

12, grade 6, Casa Montessori, Marietta

Jesse Abbot

14, grade 9

Lindsey Kandel

15, grade 9, The Cottage School, Roswell

Diofanny Mark

12, grade 7, Luella Middle School, Locust Grove

Austin Pryor

13, grade 7, New Hope Middle School, Dalton

Sarah Toner

13, grade 8, Dickerson Middle School, Marietta

Mackenzie Bourne

14, grade 9, Evans High School, Evans

Amy Lee

16, grade 11, Centennial High School, Roswell

Ana Ovtchinnikova

18, grade 12, Centennial High School, Roswell

David Patterson

16, grade 11, Maranatha Christian Academy, Oakwood

Rae Williams

16, grade 11, Maranatha Christian Academy, Oakwood

LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE

The Georgia Center for the Book, in partnership with the Center for the Book in Washington, DC and the Target Corp., is the Georgia sponsor of the national student competition, Letters About Literature. In this program, students in  grades 4-12 are asked to write a letter to the author, living or dead, whose work has had the most impact on their lives or their view of the world.

Thousands of students from around the state have participated in Letters About Literature over the last seven years; more than 1,000 entries were received in 2008. Entries are judged at the state and national level in three age categories; Georgia has produced three national winners. All Georgia winners are honored at a special reception and reading that features a short talk by a well-known author. The 2008 event was held April 26 at the Decatur Library and included a talk by prize-winning novelist Jack Riggs, author of When the Finch Rises. The 2008 winners are:

Level I

Katie Williamson

Pace Academy

To Jodi Lynn Anderson, Author of Peaches

Level II

Shaina Sayeed

Savannah, Georgia

To Charles Dickens, Author of Oliver Twist

Level III

Fred Dong,

Parkview High School

To Edgar Allen Poe

Second Place

Level I

Katherine Merritt

Pace Academy

To Ann Brasheres, Author of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

Level II

Rebecca A. Hu

Henderson Middle School

To Louisa May Alcott, Author of Little Women

Level III

Nijil Kuruvilla

Pike County High School

To A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Author of Ignited Minds

Third Place

Level I

Sammy Lettes,

Oak Grove Elementary School

To Gary Soto, Author of Baseball in April and Other Stories

Level II

Maddy Marshall,

Montessori School of Covington

Letter to Eric Colfer

Author of the Artemis Fowl Series

Level III

Maggie Smith

Parkview High School

To Frances Burnett, Author of The Secret Garden

Honorable Mention

Level I

Wylie Heiner, Pace Academy

Letter to James Patterson,

Author of The Lake House

William Rushton, Pace Academy

Letter to Wilson Rawls,

Author of Where the Red Fern Grows

Level II

Peter Hansen, Luella Middle School

Letter to Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Authors of  Peter and the Star Catchers

Sarah Savor, Heritage Middle School

Letter to Laurie Halse Anderson

Author of Fever 1783