Hall County’s Young Georgia Authors District and Regional Winners
Congratulations to our 2023 Young Georgia Authors District and Regional Winners!
The Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition (YGA), sponsored by the Georgia Council of Teachers of English, is open to students in grades kindergarten through 12th. Dr. Amy Fouse, President of the Georgia Language Arts Supervisors, explained that YGA was the concept of Fred Johnson who was ELA Coordinator at the GaDOE in the late 80s and early 90s. He proposed YGA at the very first meeting of GLAS in the spring of 1990, and the contest began in the spring of 1991, and is now in its 32nd year.
Student submissions can be short stories, poetry, essays, journals, personal narratives, reports, or other original student writing, and they are judged on the four domains in the Georgia Performance Standards: Ideas, organization, cohesiveness, and language.
Each of these students won their HCSD grade-level district competition and then competed with grade-level winners from the 15 school systems in the Pioneer RESA Region: Banks, Dawson, Fannin, Franklin, Gainesville City, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Mountain Education Charter High School, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White County.
On March 27, Pioneer RESA announced the regional winners, and we are proud to announce that two of our fine writers are regional winners: Chloe Clark from Wauka Mtn. Multiple Intelligences Academy and Harleigh Bennett from Johnson High School.
These two writers are now entered in the statewide competition. The date for the state judging will be in late April, and state winners will be announced on the GLAS website (http://galangartssup.weebly.com/young-georgia- authors.html) and the GaDOE website (http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Curriculum- and-Instruction/Pages/English-Language-Arts-Program.aspx).
Laurie Ecke, Director of Innovative and Advanced Programs, stated, “Students become authors when they find a way to write what no one else could say. Their writing springs from their unique experiences while communicating something universal. We are grateful for the parents and teachers who inspire these young writers and are proud that they so well represent Hall County Schools.”
YOUNG GEORGIA AUTHORS WRITING COMPETITION 2022-2023
| GRADE | SCHOOL | STUDENT NAME | TITLE OF WORK |
| K | Riverbend Elementary School | Ruby K. Larson | The Snowman Melted |
| 1 | Spout Springs School of Enrichment | Emilee Young | Icey’s Best Friend’s Party |
| 2 | Friendship Elementary School | London Dukes | Let it Go |
| 3 | Oakwood Elementary School | Madison Shriver | When the Purple Rain Falls |
| 4 | Chestnut Mtn. Creative School of Inquiry | Ryleigh Trump | Midnight at Sea |
| 5 | Wauka Mtn. Multiple Intelligences Academy | *Chloe Clark | Waiting |
| 6 | North Hall Middle School | Annalise Williams | Back in the Saddle |
| 7 | Chestatee Academy | Rylie Joy Hopper | The Mask |
| 8 | C.W. Davis Middle School | Peyton Davis | A Burning Horizon |
| 9 | Johnson High School | Zealand McCain | What Remains of Henrietta Wisconsin |
| 10 | Flowery Branch High School | Kayla Harward | A Flip of Fate |
| 11 | North Hall High School | Alexandra Soto | Hamlet Waiting |
| 12 | Johnson High School | *Harleigh Bennett | An Addict |
*Pioneer RESA Regional Winners
Chloe Clark
