Writing Contests

Jogging down Hoosick again today to intentionally pass by and "soak in" School 18 where I will be speaking to parents Thursday night as a kick off to the school's year-long "Hopes and Dream" literacy theme year.  Yesterday at 6:30 am I noticed lights on in classrooms, teachers getting ready for the day.  At 6:30 am.  Today I was struck by three things:  the old inscription over the entrance "Education is the Security of the Nation," the antique green clock stopped at 10:07, and the huge blue alien-space-ship-looking municipal water tower looming in the distance and I got the spark to do a writing contest for the students of School 18.  Pick one of those three things...the inscription, the clock, or the blue tower and write a short piece about it (fiction, non-fiction, poem, editorial, song whatever) weaving in one book/literary reference (to tie writing to reading).  1st, 2nd, 3rd place prizes, cash and bookstore gift certificates, a party for all who enter.... hopefully Principal Kilgallon will approve so I can announce tomorrow night.  When I think back to the moment when I first felt like a "writer," it was after winning a poetry contest in 4th grade.  I want to do contests for all the Troy schools!  Feeling so good about this as a way of getting kids excited about writing.  Heart spark, pass it on. :)