On April 23, three of our LEMS sixth graders were recognized for their achievements at the Maryland Letters About Literature awards ceremony. Letters About Literature is a national writing contest sponsored by the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book. Each year, students across the country write a letter to an author about a book that has had an impact on them. These letters are a way for students to respond to literature in an authentic and often heartfelt way. The best letters are chosen as finalists at the state level, and the winners go on to compete at the national level.

    Our sixth grade ELA teachers, Ms. Carns and Ms. Dennis, had all students write a letter to an author of their choice in January. Students were then encouraged to enter their letters into the Letters About Literature contest, and about half our sixth graders did. All told, the Maryland contest received several thousand entries. Three of our students, Kendall Willis, Isiason Brown, and Margaret Kato, were chosen as finalists for the Maryland contest. This is the second year in a row that Lake Elkhorn students have been finalists in the state competition.

    Even more amazing, this year both the state winner and the runner-up at the 4th-6th level were Lake Elkhorn students. Margaret Kato won first place for her letter to Kathryn Lasky, author of the Horses of the Dawn series, and Isiason Brown was named runner-up for his letter to Crystal Allen, author of How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy. Maryland Humanities Council staff told us that this is the first time that both the first and second place winners have been from the same school.

    Margaret read her letter aloud to a packed house at the ceremony on April 23, and both Margaret and Isiason received special prizes and citations for their accomplishments. Kendall also received a certificate, and all of our students got to meet and shake hands with former Senator Paul Sarbanes and Congressman John Sarbanes.

For more information, visit http://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/letters-about-literature/winners/.