Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods recently held a ceremony to honor the state winners in the prestigious Young Georgia Author writing competition. The YGA writing competition has been a statewide competition for more than two decades that strives to encourage student passion for writing. The contest allows students to advance their writing skills and to be celebrated for their achievements and successes in arts and academics. The competition is open to any student currently enrolled in Georgia public schools, grades kindergarten through 12.
This year, Coffee County had a Young Georgia Author’s state winner. Jessie Hutcheson won for 5th grade with her story, The Dinglehopper Mystery. Jessie was in Mrs. Mildred Milligan’s 5th grade ELA class at Eastside Elementary and is currently a 6th grade student at Coffee Middle School.
Mrs. Milligan and Eastside Principal Dr. Christina Tucker were present for the YGA ceremony in Atlanta held on Thursday, October 29, at the GaBOE, a well as her parents, William and Josette Hutcheson, and her younger brother, Jaimie.
Jessie had the opportunity to meet not only with Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods, but state ELA Program Manager Carolyn Waters, Kathleen McKenzie, former president of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE), and all the other state winners in grades kindergarten through 12.
It was a very inspiring day celebrating all the great young writers in Georgia. Jessie’s story and all the state winners’ stories can be read on-line here.
– Submitted