Top Honors At Young Authors’ Contest Go To Howard County Public School System Students

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Seven students with the Howard County Public School System were selected among the winners of the 2022-2023 Young Authors’ Contest. Organized by the State of Maryland Literacy Association, the contest was open to Maryland public and private school students in first through 12th grades who write and submit a poem and/or a short story on a topic of their choosing.

This year’s state-level winners from HCPSS include:

• Grade 1 Short Story, 2nd place: Lyla Solomon, Swansfield Elementary School
• Grade 2 Poetry, 1st place: Rehan Syed, St. John’s Lane Elementary School
• Grade 3 Poetry, 2nd place: Olive Garibay, Guilford Elementary School
• Grade 3 Short Story, 1st place: Avery Gemi, Manor Woods Elementary School
• Grade 5 Poetry, 1st place: Darshit Sai Gedela, Manor Woods Elementary School
• Grade 5 Short Story, 2nd place: Danielle Broadwater, Hammond Elementary School
• Grade 9 Short Story, 2nd place: Max Small, Wilde Lake High School

To enter the state-level competition, students had to first enter their short story and/or poem into their school-level contest. Teachers at the school reviewed the submissions and awarded the top poem and short story for each grade. The top submissions were then entered into the county-level competition, where a panel of judges rated them on readability, creativity and other criteria. The top-scoring poem and short story from each grade were entered into the state contest, and, from there, judges selected the state winners for each grade.

“There is so much that students gain from participating in the Young Authors’ Contest,” said HCPSS Elementary Social Studies Resource Teacher Kelly Davis, who also serves as HCLA president and chair of SoMLA. “They become better readers and better writers; they get to discover and explore their voice; and they get the experience of becoming published authors.”