UEHS and JFS students recently participated in the short story and poetry competition for this school year’s Tri-Cities Woman’s Club Writing Contest. For the middle school category, JFS students swept the short story competition by taking first, second, and third places.

Winning the short story competition for the middle school category was Alexis Smallcomb with her story, “The Gauntlet,” a story about a life-altering competition that has a surprising twist at its end. Placing second was Izabella Moss with her story "A Masquerade Ball,” a piece told from a first-person viewpoint about the “masks” we sometimes wear and the judgments we make about others without really knowing them. Vanessa Dallard took third place with her story “A Regretful Wish,” which is about a girl who wishes she had the life of another but comes to realize she is better off being the person she was born to be.

In the poetry division, Bailey Worden won second place for her poem, “The Nightmare,” which is about how something the speaker reads affects her dreams.

At the high school level, Reese Dimon, a previous Tri-Cities Women’s Club Writing Contest winner, placed second with her short story, “The Outcasts,” which is about a teenage girl who discovers that the woods by her home have a magical secret.

Because Alexis placed first at the local level within her category, her story moved on to district-level judging, where she also placed first. Her story is now headed to the state level. The results of that contest will be out in late April.

Dorothy Bachman, President of the Tri-Cities Writing Club, would like to congratulate all the winners and thank everyone who participated. She encourages all students to continue writing and to consider submitting a poem or short story next fall.

Union-Endicott Central School District

Writers place in competition