Local schools place in essay competition

Indian Valley Middle School took top seventh-grade honors and Northridge Middle School won the eighth-grade competition in the Power of the Pen district tournament Dec. 10 at Clark State Community College.

Following Indian Valley among seventh-grade teams were Possum School, Tecumseh Middle School and Reid Middle School.

Second through fourth in the eighth-grade division were Tecumseh, Reid and Rockway middle schools.

Students from each school wrote three essays in 40-minute time intervals on subjects provided for them. The cumulative scores determined their finishes.

The top seventh-grade individual writer was Elisabeth Weidner of London Middle School. She was followed by Sophie Smith, Roosevelt Middle School; Abagail Spracklen, Rockway; Madeline Stahl, Roosevelt; and Jessi Garrett and Danielle Swauger, both of Indian Valley.

Rounding out the top 15 were Jacob Green, St. Patrick School; Keely Campbell and Helen Horton, both of Possum; Erin DeVilbiss, Roosevelt; Shannon Fox, Tecumseh; Harish Sakhar, Ridgewood School; John Driscoll, Tecumseh; Afraaz Zariwala, Ridgewood; and Logan Stevens, Reid.

The top eighth-grade writer was Katie Wagner of Rockway. She was followed by Sophia Yu, Roosevelt; Rachal McConkey, Reid; Cheyenne Hawk, Northridge; Andrea King, London; and Abby Studebaker, Tecumseh.

Rounding out the top 15 were Chelsea Justice, Tecumseh; Rachel McLaughlin, Possum; Peter Witt, Indian Valley; Courtney McDorman, Northridge; Emma Ward, South Vienna Middle School; Courtney Mulford, Tecumseh; Cassidy Harpold, St. Patrick; Ryan Patrick, Possum; Maria Gilles; Tecumseh; and Hannah Gebhardt, Reid.

A Best of Round essay also was recognized for each round of competition.

Seventh-grade winners were Shannon Fox, Tecumseh; Lindsay Fries, Northwestern and Madeline French Reid. Eighth-grade winners were Samantha Martens, Roosevelt; Abby Studebaker, Tecumseh; and Sadie Dewitt, Possum.

Winners will advance to regional competition March 5 at Wittenberg University. The state tournament will be May 26-27 at the College of Wooster.