A hush filled the auditorium of Marshall School on the afternoon of April 6 as each winner of the PBS eight Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest took the microphone to read their winning stories.  Stories ranged from strawberries to aliens and dreams to dragons.  The entire audience expressed their appreciation to all 4,312 young writers (the largest total in the entire country!) with a standing ovation and community cheer. 

This contest is a region-wide community effort in support of literacy, education, and creativity in young children.  Contest funding was provided by the Kiwanis Club of Friendly Duluth and the Duluth Rotary Club.  39 area elementary schools plus many independent entries participated in this year’s contest.  The Department of Education at UMD provided student judges for the contest, produced the PowerPoint presentations to project the illustrations of read stories onto a movie screen, and more than 30 students and faculty came to the contest celebration to help make the event so successful. The contest is open to children in grades Kindergarten through Third Grade. 

The deadline for submission of original illustrated stories for the 15th annual contest is February 28, 2009.  Click here for submission form.  All submitted stories are returned.

 

All first place winners’ stories are now entered in the national Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrator Contest.  Congratulations to all who participated in this year’s PBS eight contest!