Power of the Pen Information
Betsy Anderson
Power of the Pen Advisor
740-593-7107
“Power of the Pen” is a statewide competition and a writing club at Athens Middle School, extra-curricular in nature. “Power of the Pen” provides creative writing opportunities for students.
STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Athens Middle School "Power of the Pen" creative writing team placed FIFTH IN THE STATE OF OHIO at competition at the College of Wooster in late May. This strong group of writers was comprised of eighth graders Emma Fenstermaker, Daniela Grijalva, and Lark Knutsen and seventh graders Grace Cahill, Richard Hwang, Delaney Murray, and Isa Sabraw. Fenstermaker, Knutsen, and Murray were finalists in the competition which featured over 700 writers from nearly 300 schools from all over the state of Ohio. Fenstermaker and Grijalva are two-time State Qualifiers. AMS has placed fifth in the state of Ohio two years in a row. The entire AMS "Power of the Pen" squad performed and behaved admirably throughout the entire season and were a credit to Athens, the Athens City School District, AMS, their parents, and themselves.
REGIONAL TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Athens Middle School "Power of the Pen" Creative Writing Team participated in the Southeast Regional Power of the Pen Creative Writing Tournament Saturday at Unioto High School in Chillicothe. 120 writers from 23 schools across the region participated. In competition, writers are given 40 minutes a round to produce three stories/essays in response to three separate prompts. The writing that they produce is rated against all the other writers in their grade level.
The AMS combined 7th and 8th Grade team won the Grand Sweepstakes Championship, with the 8th Grade team placing first and the 7th Grade team placing 3rd at grade level.
Individually, Athens was led by Delaney Murray. Delaney was the Grand Champion Writer in 7th Grade and won a "Best of Round" award for her First Round writing. Also featured prominently at the Awards Ceremony were Emma Fenstermaker and Richard Hwang. Emma placed 13th individually and won a Best of Round award for her 2nd Round writing. Emma was also awarded a prestigious "Best of the Best" award for one of her District-level
Best of Round stories that was judged best in the state for that particular prompt. Richard placed 8th individually
and won a Best of Round award for his 2nd Round writing. Other Top 15 finishers for Athens were Honorable Mention Best of Round (2nd Round) and 3rd Place finisher Grace Cahill, Lark Knutsen (4th), and Isa Sabraw (4th). Other Regional Qualifiers and outstanding writers for AMS were Emma Brown, Vanessa Carey, Daniela Grijalva, and Ashton Horsley. All AMS writers performed well and were integral players in the overall team championship.
The six AMS Top 15 finishers all qualify for the State Tournament at the College of Wooster on Friday, May 27, 2011. This current team has a tough act to follow. In 2010, the AMS team finished 5th in the State, and Emma Fenstermaker place 6th individually.
The AMS team would like to thank Kristin Camara and all of the parents who transported students to Chillicothe, particularly Allyson Horsley and Deb Murray.
The entire team not only performed admirably, they behaved appropriately over the course of the long, worthwhile day.
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Athens Middle School "Power of the Pen" Creative Writing Team participated in the Southeastern District Writing Tournament at Marietta College Saturday. The 8th Grade team placed first and the Seventh Grade team placed fourth in the team competition. Several AMS writers excelled in the competition, notably Emma Fenstermaker, who, in a dominant performance of sustained excellence, earned the Most Outstanding 8th Grade Writer and 2 of 3 "Best of Round" awards (Rounds 1 and 2 ) given in each of three rounds for the most outstanding response from all of the approximately sixty writers in her class. Another standout was Emma Brown, who placed third individually and won "Best of Round" for her 3rd-round response. Daniela Grijalva placed 5th and was given the sole 8th Grade Honorable Mention for her 2nd-round response. Delaney Murray
placed 8th and received the sole 7th Grade Honorable Mention. Other AMS Top 12 finishers were 6th Place Lark Knutson, 9th Place Richard Hwang, and 10th Place Ashton Horsley. All of these aforementioned writers automatically qualify for the Regional Tournament in Chillicothe Saturday, March 26 in Chillicothe. Vanessa Carey, Isa Sabraw, and Grace Cahill have qualified as well.
Other AMS writers participating in the District Tournament included Katie Pittman, Haley DeVore, Sylvie Powell, Sue Ryu, Madison Wood, and Bailey Thompson. Some of the starters from this group may possibly qualify for the Regional as well. All qualifiers will become known when complete District results are delivered to the school.
The AMS Power of the Pen team would like to thank several people for helping in some capacity. The team thanks Kristin Camara, Stephanie Kight, Joan Price, Allyson Horsley, Eric Fenstermaker, Susan Morse, Holly Korn, Pam Brown, and Paul Grippa.
Those not selected to be starters or alternates are still part of "Power of the Pen"; they just won't be making the traveling team.
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2009-2010 STATE
The Athens Middle School "Power of the Pen" Creative Writing Team participated in the State tournament Friday, May 21, 2010, at the College of Wooster. The competition included over 700 7th and 8th Grade qualifiers representing over 250 schools from all over the state of Ohio.
Lucy Riesbeck, Daniela Grijalva, Emma Fenstermaker, and Devon Halliday comprised the AMS contingent of state qualifying creative writers. At State, AMS was led by Emma Fenstermaker, who placed 6th in the State, and Devon Halliday, who finished 19th in the State. All of the AMS writers scored well, performing with great attitudes in excellent fashion, and it was because of this uniformly strong showing that AMS finished the competition as the 5th-ranked team in the state of Ohio.
Additionally, Devon Halliday and Kevin Hwang were featured prominently at the awards ceremony when they received "Promising Young Writer" awards for their outstanding showings during the 2008-2009 writing season.
Congratulations to all the competitors and their families, who superbly represented the AMS and Athens City Schools community.
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