Freshman, Hailey Cross and sophomore, Maegan Shetterly can finally say that they have placed in the Top 3 for a statewide reading and writing competition, Letters About Literature.
Hailey was awarded first place and will receive $200, and Maegan was awarded 2nd place with a prize of $50. The girls were required to read a book and then write a letter about what the book means to them and also about the author.
Cross wrote about her “mother being sick” and compared it to the Scarlet Ibis.
“I was very shocked when Mrs. Hixson told me the news,” said Cross. “I never thought that I would win.”
The competition included 300 students at the high school level. Cross sais she knew she “could do my best if I put my mind to it.”
“It feels special to place,” said Shetterly. “Especially because I am so passionate about my writing.”
Cross and Shetterly were both introduced to the contest by their teacher Mrs. Jenna Hixson.
“I owe a lot of the credit to Mrs. Hixson,” said Cross. “If it wasn’t for her, I would have never considered even entering the contest.”
Cross feels that before the contest she “wasn’t very confident” in her writing, but now that she has received an honor at this level, she feels that she “will apply herself more” and will “work harder” in and out of class.

“I owe a lot to Mrs. (Kristi) Burg,” said Shetterly of her middle school English teacher. “She is the first person who told me that I was a good writer.”
Shetterly feels like her family and teachers have helped her to become the writer that she is, and have helped her to achieve such an award.
“Maegan has a lot of things going for her. She had a wonderful work ethic and understood that writing is time consuming and sometimes frustrating,” said Mrs. Burg. “She put forth the effort necessary to really take an idea through the steps of the writing process; she didn’t just go through the motions.”