FWIS Essay Contest

By Tabitha Ervin
FWIS Editorial Director

On Tuesday April 19, we hosted our 3rd annual essay contest with 18 essays submitted, which was the most we have received since starting the contest. Having a variety of essays on the topic, “Should cellphones be allowed in school?” was pretty exciting for the Ink Spot team and Coach Keith Edmonds who leads the effort of recruiting young writers.

Essays were reviewed and critiqued on a scale by a guest judge, Felisa Cockrell. She had her work cut out for her with multiple submissions this time. Although challenging, she was able to select a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner.

1st place was Virgil Tharp, an 8th grade student at Memorial Park Middle School. 2nd place was Aniya McLemore, an 8th grade student at Maple Creek Middle School.

3rd place was Than Zin Moe, a 10th grade student at New Haven High School.

The three winners were recognized along with all participants and they received a cash prize while participants received gift cards.

The program also highlighted keynote speaker, Pastor Cliff Latham, Youth and Young Adult Pastor at New Covenant Worship Center who is also an educator and spoke on the topic as a parent and an educator. He concluded that if the teacher asks a student to put their phone away, they should out of respect while also acknowledging where our country is with mass tragedies and the desire of parents to be able to connect with their students as needed.

Thank you to all Ink Spot staff, youth writers, donors and community members for continuing to support this event as we look to highlight and encourage our youth writers!

We will feature the essays of the 1st-3rd place winners within our next few publications. We also regularly look recruit youth writers and others to submit articles for our publication. Please email us at fwinkspot@gmail.com to submit a writing sample.