{"id":200261,"date":"2020-04-07T13:16:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T17:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=200261"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:46:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:46:25","slug":"connecticuts-2020-letters-about-literature-contest-winners-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2020\/04\/connecticuts-2020-letters-about-literature-contest-winners-named\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut\u2019s 2020 Letters About Literature Contest Winners Named"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Neag School of Education,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/english.uconn.edu\/\">UConn\u2019s Department of English<\/a>, and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cwp.uconn.edu\/\">Connecticut Writing Project (CWP)<\/a>\u00a0at UConn are proud to announce Connecticut\u2019s winners of the 27th annual\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.read.gov\/letters\/\">Letters About Literature<\/a>\u00a0competition, a nationwide contest formerly sponsored by the Library of Congress for students in grades 4 through 12.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, the Neag School, the\u00a0Department of English, and the\u00a0CWP\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/s.uconn.edu\/neaglal\">served as the contest\u2019s Connecticut sponsors<\/a>\u00a0for the 2019-20 academic year; Neag School Professor\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/education.uconn.edu\/person\/douglas-kaufman\/\">Doug Kaufman<\/a>, CWP Director\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/english.uconn.edu\/jason-courtmanche\/\">Jason Courtmanche<\/a>, and Department of English Ph.D. candidate Sophia Buckner served as the contest\u2019s representatives for the state of Connecticut.<\/p>\n<p>There were 416 submissions from Connecticut students, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1F--OWWu16LZqf1L8TVUecuZl8YIfkVNB\/view?usp=sharing\">53 semi-finalists<\/a>.\u00a0Each semi-finalist will receive a certificate of recognition. Nine state finalists from the contest\u2019s three categories (Grades 4-6, Grades 7-8, and Grades 9-12) have been selected, and each will receive a cash prize.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/education.uconn.edu\/letters-about-literature-contest\/\">Read more about the contest<\/a>, and click the student finalists\u2019 names below to read their winning essays.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Congratulations to the finalists for the state of Connecticut, listed along with their school and teacher\u2019s name, and the work of literature that is the focus of their essay:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Level I (Grades 4-6)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First Place: Nathan Ben-Ari,\u00a0<\/strong>King Philip Middle School,\u00a0Lucinda Kulvinskas,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1x9srAgCF2Edksex-CfJINZo8nBiRzPvd\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>Peak<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Roland Smith<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honorable Mention: Molly Grove<\/strong>, King Philip Middle School,\u00a0Lucinda Kulvinskas,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1lq2JfQa7z4sZg54WDL2-mqSdm-3Cc5SD\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>Fish in a Tree<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Lynda Mullaly Hunt<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honorable Mention: Julia Lane<\/strong>,\u00a0Macdonough Elementary School, John Ferrero,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1u7HB-ypD19q8hFlH2WjlqJnEEvGzaIZ_\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>Out of My Mind<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Sharon M. Draper<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Level II (Grades 7-8)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First Place:\u00a0Caroline Holmberg<\/strong>,\u00a0Franklin Elementary, Pamela Flaherty,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1FA4LDNBHrIE1uyWOtERZ0mRhebfJXr9Y\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>The Fault in Our Stars<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by John Green<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honorable Mention:\u00a0Akosua Hansen<\/strong>,\u00a0Mansfield Middle School,\u00a0Melissa Szych,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1GQyXo-Nq-z3Hn3OJFvWmdBGVR_Tc1sMU\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>Genesis Begins Again<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Alicia D. Williams<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Level III (Grades 9-12)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First Place:\u00a0Scarlett Sladek<\/strong>,\u00a0Staples High School, Danielle Spies,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1-wf-ydjZF23-yseOtMyj-6jezZtfazzi\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>Nevermoor: The Tales of Morrigan Crow<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Jessica Townsend<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honorable Mention:\u00a0Krish Shah<\/strong>,\u00a0Notre Dame High School of West Haven, Lucy Abbott,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1UL9OUMq0lZKis6d4i48IoAG0OcsClms3\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>A Song of Ice and Fire<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by George Martin<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honorable Mention:\u00a0Eliza Lang<\/strong>,\u00a0Staples High School,\u00a0Barbara Robbins,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/11ntvEaT1fSiLAh8binbV5mydLOyoROo4\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>Wonder<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by R.J. Palacio<\/li>\n<li><strong>Honorable Mention:\u00a0Sasha Maskoff<\/strong>,\u00a0Staples High School,\u00a0Danielle Spies,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1KUpdhBlbOQz_MbojwcILT7XAKk31fY8z\/view?usp=sharing\"><em>The Giver<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Lois Lowry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Alumni, students and friends from the Neag School of Education and the University of Connecticut<\/strong>\u00a0judged the 416 Letters About Literature contest submittals this past fall. The judges selected the semi-finalists at each of the three competition levels\u00a0(grades 4-5, 7-8, and 9-12). Thank you to the first-round contest judges:<\/p>\n<p>Kelly Andrews-Babcock<br \/>\nMary Jane Bezares<br \/>\nKatie Case<br \/>\nKayla Cole<br \/>\nJane Cook<br \/>\nLisbeth Dizney<br \/>\nMaura Doxsee<br \/>\nKaitlyn Ferrara<br \/>\nVictoria Fielding<br \/>\nSydney Fogarty<br \/>\nKim Gentile<br \/>\nMarita Gereg<br \/>\nLindsey Gervais<br \/>\nDenise Grant<br \/>\nEmily Griffin<br \/>\nStephanie Fischer<br \/>\nOlivia Grossman<br \/>\nTommy Jacobsen<br \/>\nEmily Lam<br \/>\nLindsay Larsen<br \/>\nShawn Lucas<br \/>\nMelissa Oberlander<br \/>\nAshlyn O\u2019Boyle<br \/>\nKatelyn Owens<br \/>\nAlison Pellici<br \/>\nOlivia Pietrowicz<br \/>\nNicole Preston<br \/>\nJackie Robinson<br \/>\nCynthia Romero<br \/>\nDebra Sargent<br \/>\nGabrielle Sheridan<br \/>\nEmily Sherwill<br \/>\nJonathan Simmons<br \/>\nSara Smith<br \/>\nDenise Stemmler<br \/>\nPatricia Weingart<br \/>\nJohn Wetmore<\/p>\n<p><strong>Students in the Neag School and Department of English<\/strong>\u00a0judged the 53 Letters About Literature contest semi-finalists this past month. The judges selected the best Letters About Literature submitted by Connecticut students at each of the three competition levels (grades 4-5, 7-8, and 9-12).<\/p>\n<p>Thank you to the contest judges, who are current students in the Neag School of Education Integrated Bachelor\u2019s\/Master\u2019s program with a second major or concentration in English or UConn students majoring in English:<\/p>\n<p>Britney M. Augeri<br \/>\nCaroline P. Crouse<br \/>\nBrenda M. Gutierrez<br \/>\nElise Jacqueline Halle<br \/>\nLauren N. Jellen<br \/>\nAlex Milton Klein<br \/>\nJohnny Liang<br \/>\nGrace A. Mandy<br \/>\nAshlyn E. O\u2019Boyle<br \/>\nOlivia Rose Pappas<br \/>\nKatrina Rose Ptyza<br \/>\nAilia Rohbar<br \/>\nKate Rose Romanchick<br \/>\nGigi Frances Shugrue<br \/>\nRebecca A. Socha<br \/>\nSydney\u00a0Spizzoucco<br \/>\nSammy Vanvalkenburg<br \/>\nVanessa Vazquez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Neag School of Education, UConn\u2019s Department of English, and the Connecticut Writing Project (CWP) at UConn are proud to announce Connecticut\u2019s winners of the 26th annual Letters About Literature competition, a nationwide contest sponsored by the Library of Congress for students in grades 4 through 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":200263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1879],"class_list":["post-200261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 23:10:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200264,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200261\/revisions\/200264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/200263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200261"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=200261"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=200261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}