UNIVERSITY RECOGNIZES YOUNG WRITERS AT 10TH ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Tenth Annual Southeast Missouri Writing Achievement Awards ceremony recognized 27 area writers from grades 4-12. Students represented 106 schools from Southeast Missouri and the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Winners were announced during a recent awards ceremony at Southeast Missouri State University.

The program, initiated in 1982 by the Department of English at Southeast, was created to recognized the importance of writing skills in the development of an educated person, said Dr. Linda Burns, professor of English at Southeast.

"The program is designed to encourage students in grades 4-12 in their writing and to recognize publicly some of the best student writers in the area and their schools," Burns said.

Awards and honorable mentions were presented to fiction, essay and poetry writers in grade categories 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. Winning entries were published in a booklet and were presented to the winners and their schools. Each winner also received certificates and T-shirts at the awards ceremony.

Poetry winners in grades 4-6 were Lora Butler of Van Buren R-1 in Van Buren; Brandy Furst of Cooter Elementary R-4 in Cooter; and Chad Heuschober of St. Vincent de Paul Grade School in Cape Girardeau.

Poetry winners in grades 7-9 were Emily Fulenwider of R.O. Hawkins Junior High School in Jackson; Virren Malhotra of Crestview Junior High School in Ellisville; and Julie Stoverink of St. Vincent de Paul Grade School in Cape Girardeau.

Poetry winners in grades 10-12 were Jayson Bombon of Richland R-1 in Essex; Airek Cook of Jackson Senior High School in Jackson; and Aira Vehaskari of Parkway North Senior High School in Creve Coeur.

Fiction writing winners in grades 4-6 were Ryan Mangels of St. Paul Lutheran School in Jackson; Sara Torretta of Blades Elementary School in St. Louis; and Matthew Vaughn of Windsor C-1 Elementary School in Imperial.

Fiction writing winners in grades 7-9 were Nicole Dudukovic of Robert H. Sperreng High School in St. Louis; Jennifer Teegarden of St. Vincent de Paul Grade School in Cape Girardeau; and Emily Trueblood of Central Junior High School in Cape Girardeau.

Fiction writing winners in grades 10-12 were Nancy Ficken and Cari Patton, both of St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon; and Andrew Margrabe of Jackson Senior High School in Jackson.

Essay winners in grades 4-6 were Hugh Anderson of Mason Ridge Elementary School in Creve Coeur; and Daniel Lusk and Andy Seabaugh, both of North Elementary School in Jackson.

Essay winners in grades 7-9 were Jena Danieley of Farmington R-VII School in Farmington; Sara Fluegge of R.O. Hawkins Junior High School in Jackson; and Todd Richardson of Poplar Bluff Senior High School in Poplar Bluff.

Essay winners in grades 10-12 were Becky Boger of Parkway North Senior High School in Creve Coeur; Laura Gresham of Poplar Bluff Senior High School in Poplar Bluff; and Regen Hall of Central Senior High School in Cape Girardeau.

A special recognition award was presented to fifth grade teacher Martha Short of North Elementary School in Jackson. Students of Short have been awarded each year of the 10-year program.