Georgia Writers Museum has announced its 7th annual Children’s Spooky Story Contest, open to students in grades three through eight across Georgia.
Students from any public or private school or homeschooled within the state are welcome and encouraged to submit their spookiest, original creative writing stories between Sept. 13 and Oct. 11 to the GWM website at georgiawritersmuseum.org.
Contest results will be announced on Halloween, Oct. 31, with prizes awarded to the first, second, and third-place winners in each grade level. All first-place winners will have their stories printed in The Eatonton Messenger.
“We received over 700 entries last year from places as far away as Thomas County Middle School, 188 miles from Eatonton. ” GWM Education Committee Chair Janet Kelhoffer said many had very spooky and imaginative plots. “I am looking forward to reading more stories from students across the state.”
To participate, students must currently be enrolled in the 3rd through 8th grades or homeschooled and reading/writing at an equivalent level. Stories should be the student’s original work, not a retelling of someone else’s story.
“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.”
Winning submissions will be selected by judges who are educators, published authors, writer’s guild members, and volunteers with a passion for and experience in literature and composition. Judging criteria are based on the Georgia Department of Education’s Performance Standards for excellence in English / Language Arts, and submissions should have strong, consistent story and sentence structures, correct spelling, proper use of grammar and punctuation, and, most importantly, creativity!
GWM encourages students and parents to view the judging criteria for each grade level online at georgiawritersmuseum.org/ spooky-story-contest.