Special to The Beacon Brantley County School System recently released the 2024-25 local Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition winners.
Each year, the Georgia Language Arts Supervisors (GLAS) and Georgia RESA Network, with support from the Georgia Department of Education, host the writing competition.
The contest encourages development of the various forms of writing from poems and essays to fictional works. It encourages young authors to showcase their work at the county, region and state levels.
Winners in each grade level were:
• Kindergarten: Lakely Back, Waynesville Primary (Spending Time with My Dad)
• 1st grade: Annistin Ray, Hoboken Elementary (The Thanksgiving Trip)
• 2nd grade: Branson Rousey, Nahunta Primary (Looking at the Stars)
• 3rd grade: Grace Holton, Waynesville Primary (Trapped in a Video Game)
• 4th grade: Caraleigh Johns, Nahunta Elementary (The Case of Crazy Bear)
• 5th grade: Emma Lee Herrin, Nahunta Elementary (The Diary of the Girl with the Mysterious Prophecy)
• 6th grade: India Burnett, Nahunta Elementary (Starsinger’s Offbeat Calamity)
• 7th grade: Sadie Florey, BCMS (The Cat Cure)
• 8th grade: Mary Drury, BCMS (The Final Goodbye)
• 9th grade: Aqua Johnson, BCHS (Is Odysseus a Hero or Not)
• 10th grade: Kandise Snyder, BCHS (The Storm Within)
• 11th grade: Ella Highsmith, BCHS (Drip)
• 12th grade: Taylor Rowland, BCHS (The Last Ride) “We are proud to recognize this young talent and excited they are developing an enthusiasm for stories and communication of ideas that will last a lifetime,” commented Dr. Angela Haney, Asst. Superintendent and Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the school system.
The competition has been held annually since 1991, and is open to any of Georgia’s public school students in Grades K-12. Student pieces are judged at the school and system level.
Grade-level system winners are sent to the local Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) to compete against surrounding counties’ entries. If chosen as the winning grade entry at the RESA level, writing pieces are then sent on to the state competition.
According to the Young Georgia Authors handbook, “The purpose of the Young Georgia Authors (YGA) writing competition is to encourage students to develop enthusiasm for and expertise in their writing, to provide a context to celebrate their writing successes, and to recognize student achievement in arts and academics.”
