Key School Student Places 2nd In State Writing Contest

From MD Humanities: Orlandra Foote, a middle school student at The Key School, received the runner-up prize in the state for Level Two entries (Grades 7–8) in the 2018 Letters About Literature contest, a program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, coordinated locally by Maryland Humanities. One hundred ten finalists from across Maryland were honored at the ceremony on May 12 in Baltimore City. Tara A. Elliott received the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Award, awarded to a Maryland teacher who works to promote reading by employing creative teaching methods to inspire students to read great literature. Elliot teaches English and Language Arts at Salisbury Middle School in Wicomico County.

Letters About Literature is a national program where students write to the author (living or dead) of a book, poem, or speech and express how the work changed their view of the world or themselves. Letters are judged on state and national levels. More than 46,000 students from across the country entered Letters About Literature this year. Readers in grades 4–12 are eligible to enter the contest. The first place winners for each contest level advance to the national level of the competition. Read the letters from the Maryland winners and runners-up.

Minh Lê—author of Let Me Finish! and the upcoming Drawn Together and Green Lantern: Legacy—gave the
keynote address. In his remarks, Lê directly addressed each winner and runner-up with a response specific
to the letter they wrote. The Honorable Paul Sarbanes, The Honorable John P. Sarbanes, Michael Sarbanes,
and Becky Brasington Clark of the Library of Congress spoke, as well.

LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE WINNERS 2018
Level One (Grades 4–6)
FIRST PLACE: Lucy Virgilio, Individual Entry, Knoxville
How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say by Melissa Caughey
RUNNER-UP: Gautam Anand Tangirala, Individual Entry, Germantown
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
Level Two (Grades 7–8)
FIRST PLACE: Parker O’Brien, Leonardtown Middle School, Leonardtown
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Teacher: Devon O’Brien
RUNNER-UP: Orlandra Foote, The Key School, Annapolis
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Teacher: Laurel Lennon
Level Three (Grades 9–12)
FIRST PLACE: Max McKenna, Catonsville High School, Catonsville
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Teacher: Melanie Coates
RUNNER-UP: Rawan Osman, James M. Bennett High School, Salisbury
“Ain’t I A Woman” by Sojourner Truth
Teacher: Kathryn Wilde

The 2018 Christine Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Winner: Tara A. Elliott Tara A. Elliott lives with her husband and son on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where she teaches 6th grade English and Language Arts at Salisbury Middle School. She is the founder and director of Salisbury Poetry Week and is honored to serve as a Wicomico County Public Library Light of Literacy Educator, a facilitator for Salisbury
University's Lighthouse Literary Guild, a facilitator for Destination Imagination, and a board member of Eastern Shore Writer's Association. A poet, her recent works have appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Summerset Review, and Wildness Journal, among others, and are forthcoming in Triggerfish Critical Review and Gulf Stream Literary Magazine.

Tara shares her passion for reading and literature beyond the school year. She helps her students sign up for library cards during the summer and plans interactive lessons with her students that incorporate real-life lessons.
She encourages her colleagues and students to come to author readings and plans themed nights at her school based on books the children read. Over 2,000 books line the walls of her classroom, so her students can find just the right book.

Keynote Speaker: Minh Lê
Minh Lêis the author ofLet Me Finish! (named anNPR Best Book of 2016), illustrated byIsabel Roxas, and the
upcomingDrawn Together, illustrated by Caldecott-medalist Dan Santat (both published by Disney Hyperion). He is also writing Green Lantern: Legacy, a graphic novel for thenew DC Comics middle grade imprint, DC Zoom. As a member of the kidlit consortium,The Niblings, he writes about children's literature atBottom Shelf Books and for a variety of publications, including TheNew York Times,The Horn Book, andHuffPost.

Image Via Michelle Antoinette Nelson