Birchwood Writer Wins National Award
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has recognized Birchwood School of Hawken eighth grader, Abigail Gemechu, as a Promising Young Writer.
The Promising Young Writers Program represents NCTE’s commitment to early and continuing work in the development of writing. The school-based writing program was established in 1985 to stimulate and recognize writing talents and to emphasize the importance of writing skills among eighth-grade students. Schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, American schools abroad, and the Virgin Islands are eligible to nominate students.
This year, schools nominated 131 students. Of that number, Abigail Gemechu and 51 others received the highest award, Certificates of Recognition, and 79 received Certificates of Participation. Each student submitted two pieces of writing. Two independent judges evaluated each submission holistically on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.
Writing teacher, Mrs. Lorraine Tzeng, praised her student’s accomplishment saying, “Abby deserves this recognition. She has honed her writing to embody the essential structure of the school’s writing program. She not only is learning to write but also writing to learn even as she wrestled with the writing and thinking processes -as evidenced in this memoir.”
For more information about the Promising Young Writers Program, see http://www.ncte.org/awards/promising-young-writers/
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is the nation’s most comprehensive literacy organization, supporting more than 25,000 teachers across the pre K–college spectrum. Through the expertise of its members, NCTE has served at the forefront of every major improvement in the teaching and learning of English and the language arts since 1911. www.ncte.org
