Dist. 47 Bernotas students earn top honors in Scholastic Writing Contest

More than 300,000 pieces of art and writing were submitted to the national Scholastic Art and Writing contest this year by some of the brightest seventh- through 12th-graders in the country.

Among those were entries from talented Bernotas seventh- and eighth-grade language arts students from Belinda Strebel's class. The following District 47 students earned honorable mentions and/or silver or gold key mentions for their writing entries in one of the following categories:

Short Story: Eighth-graders Kate M., silver key, for "Let Me Tell You About My Day …" and Frannie Z., silver key, for "Silent Dreams;" and seventh-graders Megan L., honorable mention, for "Second Chance," Anthony M., honorable mention, for "Nightmare"; Allie C., silver key, for "Shattered," and Mira Q., silver key, for "Perfection is Key."

Flash Fiction: Seventh-grader Spencer F., honorable mention, for "Hatred"

Poetry: Eighth-grader Kate M., honorable mention, for poetry collection; and seventh-grader Cate M., honorable mention, for "The Pretty Ones."

Science Fiction/Fantasy: Seventh-grader Beth M., silver key, for "Unhidden."

In addition, out of 1,000 submissions to the Totem Adventure Write contest, Ken B. ("A Cigarette in the High Time"), Drew J. ("The Hatch Door") and Sophie A. ("See You Soon") were three of 50 students who made the cut and moved to the next round of judging.