Parker Novak, BWIS fifth-grader, wins Dispatch writing contest

By LENNY C. LEPOLA

News Assis­tant Man­ag­ing Editor

Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School fifth-grade stu­dent Parker Novak recently found out that she was selected as one of the win­ners in a Colum­bus Dis­patch Hal­loween writ­ing contest.

The con­test was held in con­junc­tion with Mar­garet Peter­son Had­dix, author of numer­ous books for chil­dren, teens and young adults.

In the con­test, Had­dix wrote the begin­ning of a story about a super­hero that drops off mid-sentence: “Because the minute I put on that shirt, I …” and con­test entrants had to com­plete the story.

As one of the con­test win­ners Parker received a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card, a $10 movie pass and a book signed by Mar­garet Haddix.

Parker’s teacher Katie Graven said she offered the con­test to stu­dents as extra credit if they were inter­ested, and Parker took on the challenge.

“I’m very proud of Parker for being one of the con­test win­ners,” Graven said. “It really sur­prised me. We mailed 25 entries off, but when you think we’re com­pet­ing with all those stu­dents in the Colum­bus school sys­tem, and then hear that one of our own wins — it’s very exciting.”

Parker said being a con­test win­ner was a cool experience.

Parker, who is involved in com­pet­i­tive cheer­lead­ing at North­star Stu­dios, said she does not know what she wants to be when she’s older, but when she goes to col­lege she wants to be an Ohio State Uni­ver­sity cheerleader.

Posted by Gary Henery on Jan 30 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.