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August 5, 2015 – (Cleveland, OH) – PBS Kids announced the 12 winners of its 2015 annual Writers Contest today, and Delaney Spoonster, a student at Hillcrest Elementary in Bath in the Revere Local Schools District, won second place in the Second Grade category. Delaney, who will be in third grade this fall, authored and illustrated the story “Friends Forever,” which she entered into the preliminary WVIZ/PBS Kids Writers Contest earlier this year.
While many of the contest entries were illustrated with crayon or colored pencil, Delaney’s featured photos of her multimedia creations. According to her author’s note, the materials for her characters and sets included electrical tape, clay and K’NEX toy construction parts. “I made the creatures fly taking a peace [sic] of my hair and tying it to them,” she added. Delaney’s mom, Nicole Spoonster, said her daughter worked on her entry for more than three months.
Delaney’s fictional tale chronicles the ups and downs of a friendship between Alligator and Rhino, who, despite their differences, are usually able to get along swimmingly—that is until they have a disagreement. Will they eventually be able to move forward? Get the answer, and the complete story, here.
“Delaney’s entry was a real winner,” said Linda Williams, ideastream Senior Director, Education. “A lot of work went into this local literary gem; it was creatively written, illustrated and plotted.”
WVIZ/PBS ideastream Education received more than 90 entries from students throughout Northeast Ohio during the local leg of the contest last spring. The first-place winner in each of the categories, kindergarten through third grade, advanced to the national level of the contest.
The annual PBS KIDS Writers Contest is a national initiative designed to promote the advancement of children’s literacy skills through hands-on, active learning. The contest encourages children in grades K-3 to celebrate creativity by submitting their own original stories and illustrations.
A panel of judges—comprised of writers, producers and children’s media creators of PBS Kids programs, including “Arthur,” “Peg + Cat,” “Wild Kratts,” “Odd Squad,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Super Why”—judged the national contest and ranked the top-12 finalists. Each of the national winners will receive a prize package that includes books, a personal technology device and more.