Contest aids literacy

May 09, 2008 12:25 pm

— Editor, Daily Press:
Before the highly successful StarWatch writing contest slips too far into the past, I would like to add my congratulations to the winners and just as importantly, to the over 200 youth and adults who took the time to sit down and put their thoughts on paper.
As supervisor of the contest judging, I had the opportunity to see many of the entries, and I found myself admiring the exuberance of the youngest writers and the maturity of the older ones.
It was interesting to examine the numbers in each of the entry categories and see that poetry is still the preferred genre of most writers – except those in grades 1-3, where, I hypothesize, the distinction between poetry, fiction, and nonfiction is not too clear.
While this was gratifying, I also found a noticeable imbalance in some of the categories. Students in grades 4-6 produced over half the entries.
Maybe this is fitting, but in grades 7-9 and 10-12, the numbers fall off dramatically. One wonders what happens to the creative juices of these young people.
Could it be that their teachers are not devoting much time to one of the most important goals of English teaching - developing the ability to communicate one’s thoughts clearly and concisely?
I would suggest that some writing lessons might be crafted to the three categories in the StarWatch contest. And what better motivation for writing than sending the best of the finished products off to be judged.
Short of a writing lesson, at least the teachers – and parents – could give those whom they have identified as incipient writers or “wannabes,” the slight nudge of support that can often be so important to youth.
I hope the teachers in our area, and especially the teachers in the Tahlequah public schools will consider writing for the StarWatch contest next year. I say especially the Tahlequah teachers because while many entries came from the outlying schools in Cherokee County, the least number of entries came from TPS. It makes you wonder.
As president-elect of Friends of the Tahlequah Library, I look forward to next year’s contest. And, by the way, contrary to the report in an earlier article in this paper, the StarWatch contest is sponsored by the volunteers who make up the Friends of the Tahlequah Library, not the library itself.
Bob McQuitty
Tahlequah