South Huntington 7th Graders Win Young Writers Contest

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — The winning short stories of 15 Stimson Middle School students are now part of a published anthology, "Twisted Tales: Cursed Chronicles," the South Huntington School District announced.

The seventh grade Honors Research students entered their 100-word stories in a contest sponsored annually by Young Writers, an organization that encourages students to read, write and enjoy poetry and creative writing. The entrants were asked to put a spin on the classic tale of good versus evil, and tell the story from the villain's perspective.

Class teacher Dawn Marie Shikarides encourages her students to enter each year because she says it’s a fun, engaging way to get them to see their writing potential, although at first they might be a little apprehensive.

"It's the challenge of writing a solid story in just 100 words that soon engages them," she explained. "Word choice and precise language are required in order to stay under the word count. Writing for this contest prompts students to see their individual writing styles and empowers them to revise and edit in new ways."

Once the Young Writers staff selects the winners and gets parental permission to publish, the winning stories are professionally printed, bound and published in an eye-catching softcover book.

Shakarides says the chance to be published is a great incentive and a big writing confidence-booster.

"They are more willing to share daily writing assignments in class," she said. "Having a winning entry also encourages students to participate in other contests like the Walt Whitman Birthplace Poetry Contest."

The villain of the story didn’t have to be a person. The evil offender could be anything the writer was inspired by. Some suggestions included natural disasters, the animal kingdom, hackers and corruption.

Stimson winning entries included titles such as "Raccoon and the Trash," "I Am Scar," and "I Did It To Survive."

The winning writers were Abigail Liclican, Armaan Malik, Brian Rankel, Elena Ferrar, Ethan Naggar, Gianluca Liotino, Harrison Basedow, Jace Power, Liam Sanborn, Lillian Montana, Lukas Ryan, Maria Aro McIntosh, Nicholas Guarini, Reid Tonna, and Ryan Dean.