POINT PLEASANT — Memorial Middle School [MMS] held its second annual essay contest ceremonies last week to honor all the monthly winners from the year along with naming the overall winners for the year.
Prior to COVID, the Asbury Park Press held a similar essay contest, which the teachers from Memorial Middle School, such as Ellen Keelan and Lynn Thompson, who are English teachers, would use within their curriculums to bolster student writing. This contest, previously called “Student Voices” would run November through May. However, after the pandemic, the contest no longer is running.
Last year, Ms. Keelan and Ms. Thompson decided to bring back the contest on their own. The contest, which is once a month, features a new theme that each student must write about. This contest is not just limited to Ms. Keelan and Ms. Thompson’s classes, rather this is put out to all the language arts classes for anyone to participate in.
Each essay must be 375 words or less, according to Ms. Keelan. “We are really looking for quality writing, but also creative writing. I would say it is a mix between expository and narrative writing, so it really makes them use different types of writing into one piece. And because it is only 375 words, they have to be concise,” said Ms. Keelan.
First, second and third place is recognized each month, along with honorable mentions. These students were honored over the course of the year, yet re-honored at this ceremony, which saw roughly 50 people attend.
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