Twelve seventh and eighth grade Birchwood School of Hawken students flexed their creative expression at the recent Power of the Pen Northeast District 2 Tournament held Jan. 21 at Ashland Middle School.
Under the direction of language arts teachers Lorraine Tzeng, Jennifer Seward and Allison Noga, Birchwood students placed high in both the individual and team components.
Birchwood’s seventh grade and eighth grade teams each took second place overall. Individual eight grade qualifier Ayat Jaffar placed fourth. Individual seventh grade qualifiers are: Saanvi Chari, third place; and Rhea Kumar, sixth place.
Birchwood School of Hawken proudly announces that eight of its students earned regional writing recognition from the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. All of the Birchwood winners are in the eighth grade.
Taught by language arts subject specialists Lorraine Tzeng and Jennifer Seward, the Birchwood students garnered two Gold Key, one Silver Key and five Honorable Mention awards.
The winning students from Birchwood are:
Joshua Gordon received a Gold Key for his Flash Fiction (up to 1,400 words) entry titled “For Civilization.”
Ashton Khoury’s Flash Fiction entry “The Love for the Game” earned him Gold Key honors.
Caroline Lu won a Silver Key in the Personal Essay & Memoir category for her piece, “Atropa Belladonna.”
Ishika Chand earned Honorable Mention honors for her Short Story entry “A Name is More Than a Label.”
Honorable Mention status went to Ayat Jaffar for her Personal Essay & Memoir submission, “An Everlasting Friendship.”
Stephen Parrino took home an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category for his story “Bland Land.”
Science Fiction & Fantasy entry “The Escape” earned an Honorable Mention for Haadeya Salman.
Jonathan Samulak brought home an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category for his story “Imagine You Were Dan.”
Works are judged on originality, technical skill and emergence of personal vision or voice.
National children’s literary magazine Cricket recognized five Birchwood School of Hawken fourth graders for their writing submissions on the topic “mythological creatures.” Birchwood’s Ryan Coppa earned first place for his story “The Day With Cerberus,” which will be published in the magazine’s forthcoming January issue.
Earning honorable mention awards were Birchwood’s Anne Fei, Danah Jang, Tzurielle Parrino, and Kit Weinmann. Read Birchwood’s winning stories by clicking here.
Birchwood School of Hawken is a member of the Ohio Association of Independent Schools (OAIS), the Cleveland Council of Independent Schools (CCIS), the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Birchwood School is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.