Georgia Writers Museum (GWM) has announced its fifth-annual Spooky Story Contest for children, open to all residents and students in grades three to eight across the state of Georgia. Entrants are encouraged to submit their spookiest creative writing stories from Sept. 15 to Oct. 14, on the GWM website (georgiawritersmuseum. org).
“Who doesn’t love a spooky story, this time of year?” GWM Executive Director Melissa Swindell asked. “It’s such a fun way to encourage students to write and use their imaginations.”
Winners will be announced Oct. 27, with prizes awarded for first through third place in each grade level. Plus, all first-place winners will have their stories and pictures printed in The Eatonton Messenger.
Georgia Writers Museum welcomes and encourages all children attending public or private schools, as well as those who are homeschooling to participate.
“We received over 120 entries last year, with some very spooky and very imaginative plots,” GWM Programs and Education Committee Chair Janet Kelhoffer said. “I am looking forward to reading more stories from students across the state.”
Eligible students must currently be enrolled in thirdthrough eighth-grade or the homeschool reading/writing equivalent. Stories should be the student’s original work and not a retelling of someone else’s story. Entries should have strong, consistent story and sentence structure, proper spelling, correct use of grammar and punctuation, and most importantly, creativity—and spookiness!
Winning submissions will be selected by judges who are educators, professional authors, writer’s guild members and volunteers with a passion for and experience in literature and composition. Judging criteria is based on the Georgia Department of Education’s Performance Standards for excellence in English/Language Arts.
GWM encourages students and parents to view online the judging criteria for each grade level. Additional information and submission forms also can be found on the GWM website.
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Grades three through eight may submit their spooky stories from Sept. 15 through Oct. 14 on the GWM website.
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