Seven Burke Area Students Win Scholastic Writing Awards

Students from Lake Braddock Secondary School, Robinson Secondary School, and West Springfield High School received regional awards in the 2013 Scholastic Writing Awards competition.

According to a news release from Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), of the 76 high school student winners in the county, seven are from Burke area schools.

Five of the 39 Silver Key entries from FCPS were from a Burke area school. A total of 13 FCPS students won Gold Key awards and 61 FCPS students received honorable mentions.

According to the Scholastic website, Gold Key regional winners are considered for national level competition.

The annual competition, which is sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and administered locally by Writopia Lab, celebrated its 90th anniversary with this year's awards.

Students submitted entries were for the following categories: dramatic scripts, flash fiction, humor, journalism, personal essays-memoirs, persuasive writing, poetry, short stories, science fiction-fantasy and writing portfolios.

The winners from Burke area schools are (name, school, title, category, award):

• Araba Dennis, Lake Braddock Secondary School, “Piano Piece”, Personal, Silver Key
• Divya Williams, Lake Braddock Secondary School, “State Of Being,” Personal, Honorable Mention
• Maya Davis, Robinson Secondary School, “Maya Me, My Mac, And I,” Personal, Silver Key
• Casey Early, Robinson Secondary School, ““Jux," “An Observation In Math,” Poetry, Silver Key
• Marianthy Posadas, Robinson Secondary School, “Little Thoughts,” Personal, Honorable Mention
• Marianthy Posadas, Robinson Secondary School, “My World,” Personal, Honorable Mention
• Jei-Si Ang, West Springfield High School, “Bonding With The Couch,” Personal, Honorable Mention
• Ben Koses, West Springfield High School, “Consequences,” Dramatic Script, Honorable Mention
• Ben Koses, West Springfield High School, “The Window,” Flash Fiction, Silver Key
• Ben Koses, West Springfield High School, “Consequences,” Portfolio, Honorable Mention
• Ben Koses, West Springfield High School, “The Science Of Love,” Science, Silver Key
• Ben Koses, West Springfield High School, “Of Fire And Fences,” Short Story, Honorable Mention, DC

A reading for the regional winners is scheduled for Sunday, March 3 from 12-6 p.m. Regional winners will also be recognized in Arlington on Tuesday, March 19 from 7-9 p.m. at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect that seven Burke area students won awards out of twelve total entries, rather than 12 students.