Tag Archives: Young Writers Contest

Young Writers Contest First Place Winner: Micayla Whitmer

We’re breaking away from our typical Member Monday to feature a piece by local young writer, Micayla Whitmer. Micayla recently completed her freshman year at Foothill High School and is the first place winner in the Young Writers Contest, sponsored by Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine. The second and third place pieces were featured the last two Mondays. Micayla’s piece will also be featured in the July issue of Enjoy magazine.  The theme of the contest was “Summer Memories”. Congratulations to all of our young writers and welcome, Micayla!

Sounds I Hear This Summer Day

by Micayla Whitmer

094.WhitmerA splash, a shout, a scream, a laugh,

Water tickles my toes,

Laughter fills my heart.

A grunt and a tug on my arm,

A big smile greets me.

The little boy points to the deep end of the pool,

And I know what he says even though he can’t speak.

Autism has taken his voice away,

But I can hear it.

It’s beautiful.

Teacher come play says the child with no voice,

So I jump in

And laugh at the water that dances around me.

The child jumps in too,

But too fast–he’s scared.

His fists grab my hair,

And though it hurts I smile and laugh,

And he knows it’s all right.

His hands release my hair and wrap me in a hug,

And the sweetest smile appears on his face.

Although no words have been said,

We both smile,

At the sweetest of summer memories.

A splash, a shout, a scream, a laugh,

Water tickles my toes,

Laughter fills my heart.

A grunt and a tug on my arm,

A big smile greets me.

The little boy points to the deep end of the pool,

And I know what he says even though he can’t speak.

Autism has taken his voice away,

But I can hear it.

It’s beautiful.

Teacher come play says the child with no voice,

So I jump in

And laugh at the water that dances around me.

The child jumps in too,

But too fast–he’s scared.

His fists grab my hair,

And though it hurts I smile and laugh,

And he knows it’s all right.

His hands release my hair and wrap me in a hug,

And the sweetest smile appears on his face.

Although no words have been said,

We both smile,

At the sweetest of summer memories.

A Note from the Webmaster: If you’re a Writers Forum member in good standing and would like to be featured on Member Monday, please send your submission to writersforumwebmaster@gmail.com. Submissions should be 75-750 words, appropriate for all ages and error free. Please include a short bio, a headshot and any related links. The author retains all rights and gives permission to Writers Forum to publish their submission on the website and/or in the newsletter. Thank you!

Young Writers Contest 2nd Place Winner: Madison Marie McCaffrey

We’re breaking away from our typical Member Monday to feature a piece by local young writer, Madison Marie McCaffrey. Madison recently completed the second grade at Shasta Lake School and is the second place winner in the Young Writers Contest, sponsored by Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine. The third place pieces were featured last Monday and the first place piece will be featured next Monday. The winning piece will also be featured in the July issue of Enjoy magazine.  The theme of the contest was “Summer Memories”. Congratulations to all of our young writers and welcome, Madison!

My Summer Memory

by Madison Marie McCaffrey

Madison McCaffrey.pdfI had a lot of fun during last summer.  Here is what I did.  I remember when I helped my grandma make ice cream and my cousin Shelly rolled the ice cream in a can back and forth to me.  Afterwards we all ate the ice cream.  Then we went to bed.

After I spent a week with Shelly, I went to San Diego and spent three weeks with my cousins Marcus and Sean.  We went to the beach, Seaworld Park and a lot of other places.  When we got home we played video games and Hide-and-Seek.  Then we got comfortable on the couch and played more video games.  I fell asleep while playing the game.

The next morning we got up and went upstairs and wrestled.  It was fun.  I totally got hurt, but it was funny.  Then we went inside the guest room and jumped on the bed.  Then we put on our swimsuits and jumped into the pool.  I made a big splash!  Then we dried off and went inside and acted like we were having a party.  We all had so much fun singing and dancing along with the music.  My cousin Marcus used his phone to make a spotlight.  Then we went to take a nap.

Then it was time to go home.  I was sad, but my mom cheered me up by letting me have a friend over to swim in the pool.  Then we dried off and rode bikes.  We acted like it was Bike to School Day.  Then we played Dress Up.  We were looking really cute.  I wanted her to spend the night, but it was my first time having a friend over so we just had a small playdate.  She went home and my mom gave me a popsicle.  I felt happy and sad, but I just went in my room and watched T.V.

These are a bunch of fun things I did over the summer.  I might do similar things this summer, maybe, just maybe.

A Note from the Webmaster: If you’re a Writers Forum member in good standing and would like to be featured on Member Monday, please send your submission to writersforumwebmaster@gmail.com. Submissions should be 75-750 words, appropriate for all ages and error free. Please include a short bio, a headshot and any related links. The author retains all rights and gives permission to Writers Forum to publish their submission on the website and/or in the newsletter. Thank you!

Young Writers Contest 3rd Place Winners: Mia Arambul and Stevie Lott

We’re breaking away from our typical Member Monday to feature a pair of pieces by local young writers, Mia Arambul and Stevie Lott. Mia and Stevie recently completed the second grade at Shasta Lake School and they tied for third place in the Young Writers Contest, sponsored by Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine. The second place piece and the first place piece will be featured the next two Mondays. The winning piece will also be featured in the July issue of Enjoy magazine.  The theme of the contest was “Summer Memories”. Congratulations to all of our young writers and welcome, Mia and Stevie!

My Summer Memory

by Mia Arambul

Mia Arambul.pdfThe first time I went on the Dragon Slide it felt pretty scary.  I had fun at Waterworks Park.  The Avalanche is scarier than the Dragon Slide!  When my mom and dad were holding me under the mushroom in the kiddy pool, we took a photo.  We had fun.  My cousin and I went to get a snow cone.  It was cold and good.  At the end of Waterworks we got to do whatever we wanted.  This is my summer memory.

 

Summer Memories

by Stevie Lott

Stevie Lott.pdfHere are my summer memories.  I remember when my friend Katelyn played Mom and Daughter.  The next thing we did was go swimming.  Me and my mom went to the lake.  I get scared because I might get hurt.  But you can wear a life vest.  The next thing I did was go to Waterworks.  I went on the Raging River and the Toilet Bowl.

 

A Note from the Webmaster: If you’re a Writers Forum member in good standing and would like to be featured on Member Monday, please send your submission to writersforumwebmaster@gmail.com. Submissions should be 75-750 words, appropriate for all ages and error free. Please include a short bio, a headshot and any related links. The author retains all rights and gives permission to Writers Forum to publish their submission on the website and/or in the newsletter. Thank you!

Young Writers Contest Call for Submissions

Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine are pleased to partner together to publish young writers, artists and graphic designers.

Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine announce a Call for Submissions for students in grades k-12. The theme is “Summer Memories”. Students are encouraged to submit an essay or poem and/or one piece of artwork. One essay or poem and one piece of artwork will be featured in the July issue of Enjoy Magazine. The winner and runners-up will be featured on the Writers Forum website/newsletter, and the Enjoy Magazine website. One high school student with an interest in graphic design will be chosen to work with the editor of Enjoy Magazine to design the layout of the page. Winners and runners-up will be notified via email.

Submission Guidelines:

1. The student must submit an application, a photograph of the student and one original essay or poem and/or original piece of artwork (painting, drawing or photograph) that exemplifies the theme “Summer Memories”.

2. Kindergarten-3rd grade students may submit handwritten or typed essays. 4th-12th grade students must submit typed essays.

3. Essay or poetry submissions and applications must be attached to an email and sent to Writers Forum at reddingwritersforum@gmail.com.

4. Art submissions and applications must be attached to an email and sent to Enjoy Magazine at ronda@enjoymagazine.net.

5. High school students interested in designing the featured page must submit an application and a photograph of the student to Enjoy Magazine at ronda@enjoymagazine.net.

6. All applications and submissions must be received by February 15, 2014.

7. Students under the age of 18 must include a parent/guardian signature on the application.

Writers Forum members, please pass this along to educators and children in your life. We simply can’t wait to help children celebrate their love of the written word by publishing their original pieces!

Writers Forum members interested in helping read and select the winning piece should contact Writers Forum Director at Large, Alicia McCauley, at writersforumwebmaster@gmail.com.

Young Writers Contest First Place Winner: David Smith

We’re back for our final week featuring young authors.  David Smith won first place in the second Young Writers Contest, sponsored by Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine.  The theme of the contest was “The Gift”.  Congratulations to all of our young writers and welcome, David!

The Gift

by David Smith

David SmithOnly seven more days until Christmas!  Mark could not wait!  Christmas was his favorite holiday and his list this year was very long.  He wanted: a Nintendo 3DS, a PlayStation 2, a bunch of Lego sets, a few movies, four posters, a Giants jersey, and a lot more!  When he went to school all the talk was about toys, toys, and more toys.  On contrast, at church the preacher said Christmas was about the day Jesus was born.  When Mark was asleep he heard a tiny voice saying, “Mark, Christmas is not about toys or getting, it’s about giving.”  The next day Mark thought about his dreams the night before and wondered what it all meant.  Finally, he pushed it to the far corners of his mind and got ready for school.

Mark was taking a math test when the principal called him to the office.  His parents were waiting for him, they had some bad news.  They told him that after they had taken him to school they left the stove on after making breakfast and the curtains over the stove caught on fire and burned the house down.  Mark was shocked!  His parents said that they were going to the homeless shelter.

Each day everyone helped out to keep the shelter clean and prepare food.  Everyone did their part.  Every day the preacher came by and told the true story about Christmas.  Mark knew that there would be no Christmas gifts this year, and that was okay.  He had his family and a warm bed to sleep in.  It was a gift just to be at the shelter with the nice people who gave every day to run it.  Mark remembered the weird dream he had.  Now he understood what Christmas was about.  It was about giving.

A Note from the Webmaster: If you’re a Writers Forum member in good standing and would like to be featured on Member Monday, please send your submission to writersforumwebmaster@gmail.com. Submissions should be 75-750 words, appropriate for all ages and error free. Please include a short bio, a headshot and any related links. The author retains all rights and gives permission to Writers Forum to publish their submission on the website and/or in the newsletter. Thank you!