Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Writing Tournament 2023 Winners

For the past two years, Nevada County Superintendent of Schools has hosted a virtual Creative Writing Competition to replace the in-person Writing Tournament, due to pandemic restrictions. This year, students, teachers, and staff, alike, were very excited to return to our original tournament. “The Creative Writing Competition was a great solution to keep students enthusiastic about writing, but there is nothing like gathering these talented writing students in one room together. You can feel their nerves, their excitement, and their pride radiating throughout the room,” said tournament coordinator, Shannon Rashby. “During the breaks, you can hear them asking each other ‘What did you write about?’ and it is just delightful.”

Forty-three 7^th and 8^th grade students from twelve local schools competed in the countywide Writing Tournament, which was held in the Stone Hall at the Miners Foundry, on January 11^th. The event was co-sponsored by Stifel KNN Wealth Management Group.

The students were judged on three styles of writing:

1. Informative Writing: Guest speakers, Alex Keeble -Toll and Craig Griesbach, of the Nevada County Department of Emergency Services, gave a presentation about preparing for wildfire season using the “Ready, Set, Go” strategy. Following their speech, the students were asked to write a paper about the presentation.

• Creative Writing: The students wrote stories in response to the prompt: You find an odd-looking egg in the forest. When you take it home, you never could have predicted what was inside.

• Persuasive Letter Writing:  Students were asked to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper responding to the question: Is social media beneficial or harmful?

Winners:

Overall winners for highest collective score from 3 written assignments:

7^th Grade:       Ethan Conklin – Seven Hills

8^th Grade:       Elsa Burt – Grass Valley Charter

Informative Writing Winners:

7^th Grade:

1^st Place: Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

2^nd Place: Cash Olson, Nevada City School of the Arts

3^rd Place: Rama James, Seven Hills

4^th Place: Henry Robbins, Grass Valley Charter

5^th Place (tie): Clover Rashby, Forest Charter

5^th Place (tie): Amy Peckham, Magnolia

8^th Grade:

1^st Place: London Linster, Chicago Park

2^nd Place: Lola Ramos, Union Hill

3^rd Place: Elsa Burt, Grass Valley Charter

4^th Place: Sawyer Maddux, Grass Valley Charter

5^th Place (3-way tie): Leah Lubarsky, Clear Creek

5^th Place (3-way tie): Vivienne Perelman, Clear Creek

5^th Place (3-way tie): Toni Swansick, Union Hill

Creative Writing Winners:

7^th Grade:

1^st Place:  Taylor Shimamoto, Magnolia

2^nd Place (tie): Cash Olson, Nevada City School of the Arts

2^nd Place (tie): Savannah Sutton, Arete Charter Academy

3^rd Place: Clover Rashby, Forest Charter

4^th Place: Hope Searls, Twin Ridges

5^th Place: Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

8^th Grade:

1^st Place: Elsa Burt, Grass Valley Charter

2^nd Place: Payton Garten, Magnolia

3^rd Place: Oliver Patterson, Seven Hills

4^th Place: Wilder McGrew, Nevada City School of the Arts

5^th Place: Ella Bierne, Arete Charter Academy

Persuasive Letter Writing Winners:

7^th Grade:

1^st Place: Rama James, Seven Hills

2^nd Place: Ethan Conklin, Seven Hills

3^rd Place: Clover Rashby, Forest Charter

4^th Place: Taylor Shimamoto, Magnolia

5^th Place: Cash Olson, Nevada City School of the Arts

8^th Grade:

1^st Place: Eli Campe, Nevada City School of the Arts

2^nd Place: Pascale Cartier-Harkness, Seven Hills

3^rd Place: London Linster, Chicago Park

4^th Place: Elsa Burt, Grass Valley Charter

5^th Place (tie): Sawyer Maddux, Grass Valley Charter

5^th Place (tie): Colton Abril, Ready Springs