Letters About Literature

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of giving the keynote for the Letters About Literature - awards ceremony (two links in there). This is a state-wide contest hosted by the Georgia Center for the Book that eventually goes nationwide hosted by the National Center for the Book. Students write letters to the authors of their favorite book, and let me tell you, some of the letters would blow your socks off. I've had the honor of being on the judging panel for a few years now and I'm always impressed at how eloquent some of our young readers/writers are. Some gave me chills, and some even made me cry.
     Here are the winning students:

Click the image to see it larger.
     They are as follows (and not in the order in the photograph):
     Level 1:
Tekyiah Sanford (1st); Grace Dwyer (2nd); Catie Sheley (3rd)
     Level 2:
Matthew Delfino (1st); Will Capriola (2nd); Catlina Arnett (3rd)
     Level 3:
Amber-Nicole Watty (1st); Kaylynn Cook (2nd); Chelsey Guy (3rd)
     I didn't get everybody in and it's not a great shot, so if any of the proud parents are reading this and got a better photo - please share. Email me at elizabethdulemba at mac dot com.
     For the awards ceremony, the winners arrived with their families and read their letters. Afterwards, we all headed to Little Shop of Stories to spend the gift cards they received as part of their awards. I was so in my element, recommending titles I've loved to young readers who hadn't experienced them yet. SO much fun. I felt like a proud mama bear! (If you read my blog, you know I get that way a lot around smart students.) Our future will be a bright one with these students out in the world!
     And I must admit, I was rather proud of my keynote speech which received lots of compliments. I rarely write actual speeches, I usually tend to wing it. But this was a special event and I had some things I wanted to say which I needed to get just right. So, with that in mind, I'll share my speech tomorrow.