Dear OWP TC's-- Thanks to all of you who entered your own and your students' writing in this year's OWP writing contest. Competition was tough this year. We had over 400 entries, a record breaker, I believe, with 90 elementary entries, 175 middle school entries, 115 high school entries, and 21 teacher entries. Jennifer Kidney, Director of Literature Programs for the Oklahoma Humanities Council, was the judge. OWP will be honoring the winners at two spring conferences for students and teachers. The secondary conference will be Wednesday, April 1, at Oklahoma City University, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English convention. Guest speaker will be Charles Simic, U. S. Poet Laureate (2005-06). The elementary conference will be held in Norman April 30 (after spring testing) at the J. D. McCarty Center. We hope you'll plan to come and bring five students with you. All conference participants will receive a copy of the 2009 OWP Anthology of Winning Writing. Attached are flyers and registration forms for both conferences. By the way, we still need TC's to present student workshops at both conferences. If you're interested, please send me the title of the workshop and a workshop description for the program. We will waive your registration fee and pay you $150 to present a 75-minute workshop. Please let me know right away if you're interested. Congratulations to all the winning writers and their teachers! Janis 2009 WINNERS OWP Writing Contest for Students and Teachers Elementary Mira Alpers, Grade 2 McKinley Elementary, Norman Audra Plummer, Teacher Primary Poetry “My Horse” Quincy Bradford, Grade 2 McKinley Elementary, Norman Audra Plummer, Teacher Primary Poetry “My ABCs of Snow Cones” Sam Wainscott, Grade 2 Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City Carol Anthis, Teacher Primary Desriptive Paragraph “In the Dark” Jensen Simmons, Grade 3 Silo Elementary June Caruthers, Teacher Primary Poetry “The Perfect Accident” Caitlyn Hackett, Grade 3 Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City Patsy Holland, Teacher Intermediate Short Story “The Castle of No Return” Haley Maib, Grade 3 Geary Elementary Tina Barnes, Teacher Intermediate Short Story “A Lion’s Tale” Chloe Lowrance, Grade 4 Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City Leah Brecheen, Teacher Personal Narrative “My Animals” Brianna Walker, Grade 4 Comanche Elementary Staci Johnson, Teacher Intermediate Short Story “The Missing Milk” Maggie Jones, Grade 5 Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City Mischa Owen, Teacher Intermediate Poetry “Where I’m From” Trenton Long, Grade 5 Silo Elementary June Caruthers, Teacher Intermediate Descriptive Paragraph “Nature’s Goodnight” Caroline Wolf, Grade 5 Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City Donna McMullen, Teacher Intermediate Writing Across the Curricululm “Snow” Middle School Katie Trail, Grade 6 Weatherford Middle School Pat Lightfoot, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Burlap Mountains” Oakley Winters, Grade 6 Weatherford Middle School Pat Lightfoot, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Curious Wonder” Fahmida Khan, Grade 6 Weatherford Middle School Pat Lightfoot, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Autumn Ballroom” Chaslea Frantz, Grade 6 Weatherford Middle School Pat Lightfoot, Teacher Middle School Descriptive Paragraph “Rocks Stand Tall” Andrew O’Neal, Grade 6 Silo Public School June Caruthers, Teacher Middle School Short Story “A Backwards Tale” Juan Rojas, Grade 7 ASTEC Charter School, OKC Barbara Harrison, Teachers Middle School Poetry “Lowriders” Delanie Beevers, Grade 7 Whittier Middle School, Norman Cindy Castell, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Raindrops” Ashleigh Horn, Grade 7 Corn Bible Academy Diann Warkentin, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Hallway” Sarah Anderson, Grade 8 Jones Middle School Audra Ralls, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Roll of the Die” Ann LeFleur, Grade 8 Central Junior High, Moore Shelly Unsicker, Teacher Middle School Descriptive Paragraph “Baking Cupcakes” Emily Frech, Grade 8 Alcott Middle School, Norman Rhonda Slatten, Teacher Middle School Poetry “Moments” Molly Hawkins, Grade 8 Weatherford Middle School Kelly Brack, Teacher Middle School Personal Narrative “Running Away” Emily Frech, Grade 8 Alcott Middle School, Norman Rhonda Slatten, Teacher Middle School Short Story “One Sixth Failure” Jill Craighead, Grade 8 Weatherford Middle School Kelly Brack, Teacher Middle School Short Story “It Will Pay Off in the End” Abby Craighead, Grade 8 Weatherford Middle School Kelly Brack, Teacher Middle School Short Story “Life’s a Track Meet” Logan Pennington, Grade 8 Highland West Junior High, Moore Gina Parks, Teacher Middle School Writing across the Curriculum “The Story of Rocky” High School Zach Wallace, Grade 10 Pryor High School Shaun Perkins, Teachers High School Poetry “Dissecting the Frog” Leah Charrier, Grade 10 Pryor High School Shaun Perkins, Teachers High School Poetry “Neon Red Button Stuck in a Colorful World” Larry Young, Grade 10 Pryor High School Shaun Perkins, Teachers High School Poetry “Questions for Nature” Grace Conway, Grade 11 Norman High School Freeda Richardson, Teacher High School Poetry “Déjà Vu” Makala Carlile, Grade 11 Glenpool High School Phil Harriman, Teacher High School Descriptive Paragraph “The Mountains Have Faces” Kirsten Therkelson, Grade 12 Southmoore High School Connye Griffin, Teacher High School Poetry “White Walls” Kate McNeely, Grade 12 Norman North High School Kathy Woods, Teacher High School Poetry “The Election” Caitlin Stensrud, Grade 12 Norman North High School Kathy Woods, Teacher High School Poetry “Her Lost Memories” Annie Chang, Grade 12 Norman North High School Kathy Woods, Teacher High School Personal Narrative “The Milkman” Kynsey Lira, Grade 12 Norman North High School Kathy Woods, Teacher High School Short Story “Escape” Serena Jafer, Grade 12 Putnam City North High School Randy Baker, Teacher High School Writing across the Curriculum “Straight” Teachers Jason Stephenson Deer Creek High School Teacher Poetry “Courtesy” Alicia Monroe Central Junior High Teacher Prose “Navigating Trey: A Teacher’s Voyage”