Power of the Pen team showcases talents at tournaments
The Edgewood Power of the Pen team showcased the talent of its writers at the regional tournament March 12.
The program is an interscholastic middle school writing competition for seventh and eighth graders, according to Polly Fenton, the team’s adviser.
At the tournament, students are given prompts, around which they must create a story in a given period of time.
“Each school chooses six members from each grade to compete at the district tournament. The top 50 percent at districts go to regionals, the top 20 percent at regionals go to state,” Fenton said.
Both the seventh and eighth-grade teams from Edgewood had individuals who were recognized for their writing at the regional tournament. Lena Weibe (7) placed fifth and Sophie Gamble (7) placed ninth. These students, in addition to Caitlin Scott (7), qualified for the state tournament. The seventh-grade team placed second overall, according to Fenton.
From the eighth-grade team, Rheanna Velasquez (8) placed sixth and received a director’s choice award. A director’s choice award is given to recognize students for one particular story, as tournaments consist of multiple rounds with different prompts.
According to Velasquez, the prompt for which her story was recognized asked students to construct a story around the following: “My Own Power: write about how powerful a pen can be.”
“In my story, there’s a girl alone at recess. Every day, she writes in a notebook about the things around her, like kids playing on the playground or nature, and makes up stories about them,” Velasquez said.
Bekah Barnett (8) received a director’s choice award at the district tournament and qualified to state with Velasquez.
Power of the Pen serves as an extracurricular, which can easily translate to academics.
“I enjoy working with the students outside of the classroom and I love watching their writing develop,” Fenton said.
The club has many more benefits to students besides aiding in writing skills.
“I enjoy the sense of team and I also like the sense of psychological self-awareness; it allows you to look at yourself through different lenses.” Lena Wiebe said.
For Velasquez, getting to spend time with friends and discussing their stories, as well as the ability to meet writers from other schools are her favorite aspects of participating in power of the pen.
The members of the club will continue to practice as the state qualifiers prepare for the upcoming tournament May 26 and May 27 at the College of Wooster.