Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Blevins Student Wins Writing Award

Jasmyne Willis of Blevins Elementary School was a winner in

the recent Youth Writing Festival at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. The festival is sponsored by the Department of English and Foreign Languages at SAU.

Jasmyne won second place in the intermediate poetry division for her work entitled Winter'.

The contest was open to students in four age groups: elementary (grades 1-3), intermediate (grades 4-6), junior high (grades 7-9), and senior high (grades 10-12).

Students submitted over 700 entries in three writing categories: essays, poems and short stories. The day included a model writing workshop and peer reading sessions.

In addition to the Department of English the Youth Writing Festival

at SAU is sponsored by Gerald F. and Betty Fincher Scott Academic Endowment, made available through Harold and D.J. Fincher and the Peoples Bank of Magnolia, Waldo, Emerson and McNeil; and by Wal-Mart.

The purpose of the writing festival is to get students more involved

in writing, recognize students for outstanding work, motivate students to write more, develop more fluent writers and help raise the awareness about the importance of writing.

Awards were given for first, second and third places in each age division for each writing category.

First place winners in the primary division were given the Gerald F. Scott Award; first place winners in intermediate were given the Betty Fincher Scott Award; first place in junior high were given the D.J. Fincher Award; and first place winners in senior high were given the Harold Fincher Award.

Her grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Willis of Blevins.