Two Young Montgomery-Areaauthors
Contact:Kathie B. Martin, APR
205/380-5168
205/572-0875
TWO YOUNG MONTGOMERY-AREAAUTHORS
AMONG APT WRITERS CONTEST WINNERS
Annual Competition FostersReading, Writing and Creativity;
Winners to be Honored at Alabama Book Festival April 17
BIRMINGHAM, AL, April 13, 2010–Montgomery first grader Evan Nicholas Leary and Prattville third grader Molly Kay Rose Richardsonare among 12elementary students and authors statewide to be selected winners in the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest,sponsored by Alabama Public Television.
Leary, who was also a winner in APT’s 2009 writing contest, received a second-place award in the first-grade category for his book, “Weasler and the Big Purple Blimp,” andRichardson, a first-time winner,earned a second place award in the third-grade categoryfor her book, titled “The Very Special Gardener.”
The contestencourageschildren grades K-3to celebrate the power of writing and illustrating by creating their own original storybooks. First through third-place winners are selected in each grade level. This year, a record 285 entries were submitted to APT’s Education Division.
Winning authors will be recognized at a special awards ceremony to be held Saturday, April 17 at the Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery and they will be hosted with their family at an APT-sponsored luncheon in their honor at the historic Young House. They will also bepresented with a gift package containing books and educational activities from APT. Alabama’s first-place winning entries will advance to the national competition where they will be judged by a panel of renowned professionals. National winners will be announced during summer 2010 and will earn additional prizes including laptops, digital cameras and MP3 players.
In announcing the winners, APT’s VP of Educational Services Dr. Cindy Kirk noted, “Research shows that writing plays a key role in the development of early literacy skills. This contest provides the perfect forum for kids to flex their imaginations while tapping into those important skills.”
A full breakdown of the 2010 Young Writers’ Contest Winners appears below.
KINDERGARTEN
First Place: “Gramy Goes to Space” byHattin Berryman, Waterloo, AL
Second Place: “The Good Dog” by Cheryl Kaye Marshall, Birmingham, AL
Third Place: “Finding Grandma” bySofie Jean Pickett, Phenix City, AL
FIRST GRADE
First Place: “The Spider Who Couldn’t Swim” byJackson Baggett, Cullman, AL
Second Place: “Weasler and the Big Purple Blimp” byEvan Nicholas Leary, Montgomery, AL
Third Place: “ The Pub Parade” byEden Kennedy Morris, Birmingham, AL
SECOND GRADE
First Place: “Sunny Days are Here” byTaylor El’ana Moore-Jones, Dixon’s Mills, AL
Second Place: “Lizzy the Dancing Scientist” byMaria Joy Moxey, Mobile, AL
Third Place: “A New Day” byBenjamin Starkey, Southside, AL
THIRD GRADE
First Place: “The Crab who wasn’t Crabby” byEllie Talalight, Gardendale, AL
Second Place: “The Very Special Gardener”byMolly Kay Rose Richardson, Prattville, AL
Third Place: “Jake: Best Day Ever!”byJordan Hale, Hartselle, AL
All APT winning storieswill be posted on the APT Web site, after the awards ceremony. The Web sitealso featuresa wealth of information for parents and teachers as well as interactive user-generated content for kids.
About the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest
Produced by WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and PBS, the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contestis a part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers, a national initiative thatuses the power of public media to build the reading skills of children ages 2to8, with an emphasis on children from low-income families. The effort is funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, part of a cooperative agreement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), PBS and The Ready To Learn Partnership.
About PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!
PBS KIDS, for preschoolers, and PBS KIDS GO!, for early elementary school kids, offer all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. With positive role models and content designed to nurture a child’s total well-being, family and educator resources - including PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! television series,PBSKIDS.org,PBSKIDSGO.org, PBS Parents (PBSPARENTS.org), PBS Teachers (PBSTEACHERS.org). PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s nearly 360 public television stations, serving more than 124 million people on-air and online each month. For more information on specific shows supporting literacy, science, math and more, visitPBS.org/pressroom.
About Alabama Public Television
Alabama Public Television, America’s first statewide educational television network, is a seven-day-a-week educational resource for every Alabamian – children, parents and teachers alike – through online services,digital television programming, documentary production and outreach activities. It is affiliated with the Public Broadcasting System.
About CPB
CPB, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1000 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related on-line services.
The contents of this release were developed under a grant, #PRU295A050003 and #PRU295B050003, from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.