Nevada County Schools 2024 Writing Tournament

Thirty-five 7^th and 8^th grade students from ten local schools competed in the countywide Writing Tournament, held in the Stone Hall at the Miners Foundry, on January 25^th.

The students were judged on three styles of writing:

Informative Writing: Guest speaker, Chris Espedal, Director of Facilities and Safety for Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, gave a presentation about situational awareness. Following the speech, the students were asked to write a paper about the presentation.

Creative Writing: The students wrote stories in response to the prompt: The bell rang. I sprinted to my locker. I had to get there before….

Persuasive Letter Writing: Students were asked to write a letter to their principal with an idea to improve their school.

Students had a wide range of ideas to improve their school. Many students wrote about enrichment activities and electives: improving sports teams, making arts a requirement, and adding more afterschool activities. Some students wrote about improving the campus with new lockers or a better playground. Other students chose serious topics such as gender bias in dress codes, getting rid of iReady testing, and improving school lunches. A few students chose to have fun with the prompt and suggested to get an ice cream machine or add a nap time to the school day.

7th Grade Winners, L-R: Pixie Gump, Vivienne Karwowski, Lena Von Ruden, and Scott W. Lay, Superintendent, NCSOS — 7th Grade Winners, L-R: Pixie Gump, Vivienne Karwowski, Lena Von Ruden, Scott W. Lay, Superintendent, NCSOS

8th Grade Winners, L-R: Sybella Wasson, Amy Peckham, Ethan Conklin, and Scott W. Lay, Superintendent, NCSOS — 7th Grade Winners, L-R: Pixie Gump, Vivienne Karwowski, Lena Von Ruden, Scott W. Lay, Superintendent, NCSOS

Tournament Coordinator, Shannon Rashby said, “We ended up with a record number of ties because the writing was so good, the judges were having a hard time choosing winners!”

8^th grader, Ethan Conklin, took home the overall prize in his grade for the second year in a row!

Winners:

Overall winners for highest collective score from 3 written assignments:

7^th Grade: Lena Von Ruden, Magnolia

8^th Grade: Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

Informative Writing Winners:

7^th Grade:

1^st Place: Pixie Gump, Nevada City School of the Arts

2^nd Place: Ava Becker, Mt. St. Mary’s

3^rd Place: Josie Hoover, Grass Valley Charter School

4^th Place: Lena Von Ruden, Magnolia

5^th Place (tie): Tessa Myers, Union Hill

5^th Place (tie): Zoe Colbert, Nevada City School of the Arts

8^th Grade:

1^st Place: Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

2^nd Place (tie): Mackenzie Early, Seven Hills

2^nd Place (tie): Mason Boucke, Grass Valley Charter

3^rd Place: Sybella Wasson, Forest Charter

4^th Place: Taylor Shimamoto, Magnolia

5^th Place: Malachi Watanabe, Ready Springs

Creative Writing Winners:

7^th Grade:

1^st Place: Vivienne Karwowski, Seven Hills

2^nd Place : Lena Von Ruden, Magnolia

3^rd Place: Austin Peters, Mt. St. Mary’s

4^th Place: Josie Hoover, Grass Valley Charter

5^th Place (tie): Hudson Bradley, Grass Valley Charter

5^th Place (tie): Zoe Colbert, Nevada City School of the Arts

8^th Grade:

1^st Place: Amy Peckham, Magnolia

2^nd Place (tie): Brooke Colvin, Nevada City School of the Arts

2^nd Place (tie): Cailee Perez-Montalvo, Mt. St. Mary’s

3^rd Place: Felix Van Wagner-Meade, Mt. St. Mary’s

4^th Place (tie): Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

4^th Place (tie): Cash Olsen, Nevada City School of the Arts

5^th Place (tie): Mackenzie Early, Seven Hills

5^th Place (tie): Taylor Shimamoto, Magnolia

Persuasive Letter Writing Winners:

7^th Grade:

1^st Place: Lena Von Ruden, Magnolia

2^nd Place: Pixie Gump, Nevada City School of the Arts

3^rd Place: Kate Lind, Union Hill

4^th Place: Vivienne Karwowski, Seven Hills

5^th Place: Julian Leiva, Seven Hills

8^th Grade:

1^st Place: Sybella Wasson, Forest Charter

2^nd Place: Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

3^rd Place: Clover Rashby, Forest Charter

4^th Place: Cash Olsen, Nevada City School of the Arts

5^th Place: Mackenzie Early, Seven Hills

Thank you and congratulations to all the participating students as well as teachers and parents for their support.

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