Knox County’s best poets turned out for the Knox County Literacy Council’s Writing Contest awards on Sunday, April 10 at Central Elementary School.
The award celebration included a presentation of certificates and medallions to the top three entries in the council’s poetry contest.
Regina Bargo, teacher at Girdler Elementary and recently published author of “Jonas Wept” was the guest speaker. Bargo encouraged students and adults in attendance to never give up on their writing dreams. She shared how her own dreams for “Jonas Wept” have come true thanks to the encouragement of friends and family.
Winners in the contest were:
First and Second Grade Category
Presley Partin, First Place, “Basketball”
Raigan King, Second Place, “Butterfly”
Braxton Smith, Third Place, “Football”
Third and Fourth Grade Category
Maggie McArdle, First Place, “Bacon”
Breanna Partin, Second Place, “Family”
Raleigh Swafford, Third Place, “I Am”
Fifth and Sixth Grade Category
Cherish Gray, First Place, “Beneath the Dogwood & the Cherry Blossom”
Brandi Mills, Second Place, “To Live in Kentucky”
Grace Moses, Third Place, “Nature’s Prize”
Seventh and Eighth Grade Category
Kristen Pedersen, First Place, “Who Am I”
Arienne Owens, Second Place, “Bittersweet Goodbye”
Gerian L Dales, Third Place, “What Shall I Choose”
Ninth through Twelfth Grade Category
Caleb Nelson, First Place, “Unforgiven”
Hanna Wright, Second Place, “The Agony of Defeat”
Emily Bowman, Third Place, “Peace in the Storm”
Adult Category
Mayla McKeehan, First Place “The Ballad of White Fang… the Serial Chicken Killer”
Brittany Irvin, Second Place, “Band Aid”
Callie Melton, Third Place, “Unbridled Spirit”