Power of the Pen Regional Winners

Collectively, the Birchwood seventh and eighth grade teams earned enough “writers’ points” at the district and regional levels to bring home the Regional Sweepstakes Award for the third year in a row. Individual awards were granted to the top twelve writers in each grade at the regional level and to the best story of each round at the district level. Platinum Pen Awards were granted to district Best of Round stories that demonstrated exceptional quality; these stories are eligible to be published in Power of the Pen’s “Book of Winners.” 

Power of the Pen (POP) is an Ohio interscholastic writing competition where school representatives in teams of six demonstrate their imagination and writing skills. Thirty-four schools participated in this year’s regional competition hosted by Kent State University. In total, 107 seventh graders and 105 eighth graders each wrote three stories over the course of three 40-minute rounds.

“Birchwood students have been competing in the Power of the Pen competition since 1991,” said Lorraine Tzeng, Birchwood language arts teacher and POP coach. “The program coincides with our emphasis on a strong writing foundation sprinkled with creativity and imagination.”
 
Individuals who placed in the regional competition and recipients of the Platinum Pen Award are automatically eligible to compete in the state competition in May. Remaining state qualifiers are yet to be announced.