Local students advance to state writing competition

Twenty-five Clark County students will participate in the state Power of the Pen competition May 23 and 24 at the College of Wooster as the result of their performance during the regional tournament March 2 at Wittenberg University.

Northwestern Middle School won the sweepstakes trophy for the best combined seventh and eighth grade teams and Reid Middle School was third at the event.

The region included 159 students from 28 schools in Clark and Montgomery counties who had advanced from district competition. Sixty of those now go on to the state.

The top seventh grade team at the Wittenberg Regional was Tower Heights Middle School of Centerville, followed by Northwestern, then Kettering and Reid middle schools. Oakwood Junior High had the top eighth grade team, followed by Northwestern, St. Charles Borromeo School of Kettering and Magsig Middle School of Centerville.

Oakwood finished second in the sweepstakes.

Abigail Myers of Possum School was the top seventh grade writer judged over three rounds of essay competition. Other top Clark County students were Lexi Mowell and Emily Woodruff of Reid, who finished ninth and 10th; Kelsey Lloyd of Possum, 13th; and Carmen Griffin of Northridge Middle School, 14th. Other local seventh grade state qualifiers are Tyra Huxley of Rockway; Alli Lowe of Northwestern; Kaycee Bunn of Indian Valley; Myah Chapman of Possum; Cait Boblitt of Reid; and Alexandra Gianakopoulos, Ridgewood.

Alyx Fugate of Weisenborn Middle School of Huber Heights was the top 8th grade writer and the winner of a $30,000 scholarship to Wittenberg University, should she choose to attend there. Clark County students held down the next four places with Hannah Morrison of Indian Valley second; Payton Mercer of South Vienna third; Julie Myers of Southeastern Junior High fourth; and Addie Smith of Northwestern fifth. Samantha Scanlan of Reid finished seventh, Kristin Hopkins of Possum eighth, Stephanie Angle of Northwestern 11th, Haley Eblin of Northwestern 13th, and Darienne James of South Vienna 14th. Other local eighth grade state qualifiers are Jenna Demeter of Northwestern; Kaitlin Musick of Possum; Shawn Daniel of Ridgewood; Catie Trouillard of Indian Valley; and Erin Devilbiss of Roosevelt.

Tyra Huxley of Rockway was judged to have written the best seventh grade essay in round two of the competition. Eighth-grader Samantha Scanlan also won a Director’s Choice award after the competition for her round two essay.

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