(posted on June 2, 2009)
State Superintendent of Education Dr. Jim Rex honored 70 fifth-graders and 67 eighth-graders as this year’s district winners in the State Superintendent’s Writing Award program. Representing Horry County Schools were Robby Meese of Lakewood Elementary School and Margaret Shelton of St. James Middle School. District winners received a plaque at a recent awards ceremony and are invited to participate in a summer writing institute to be held June 23 at Irmo Middle School.
The purpose of the program is to support the teaching of South Carolina’s academic standards and provide fifth and eighth grade students an opportunity to express themselves through the writing process. District winners were selected from class and school winners by a panel of readers. The writing prompts focused on the topic of financial literacy.
The fifth grade essay topic was: “Discuss how saving contributes to financial well-being. Do you think it is important to start saving at your current age? Why or why not?” Eighth grade writers had this topic to consider: “Think about the current economic crisis in our country. Why is it important that every individual be responsible for personal financial decisions? How can you start learning financial responsibility at your age?”
Essays were judged on their content and development, organization, vocabulary and phrasing, and on the writer’s command of grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling. The writing award program was formerly conducted by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, but was sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Education for the first time this year.