GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Grove City College Education Department and education honorary Kappa Delta Pi recently honored 58 kindergarten through third-grade winners of the annual Grove City College story-writing contest. The contest had more than 200 entries from nine school districts and homeschooled students this year. Two winners were selected from each grade level per school.

Winners were honored at a ceremony in April at the Grove City College Henry Buhl Library and received a certificate honoring their story-writing excellence, an award-winning selection of literature, a personalized bookmark and an anthology containing all winning stories. Students also had the opportunity to share their winning stories with those in attendance. Members of Kappa Delta Pi judged the entries, which were evaluated for ideas and content, style and creativity, organization and mechanics.

The contest also recognized an overall winner in each grade level, given for stories with outstanding content and illustrations. Overall winners were: Abby Biddle, a kindergartener at the Washington Kindergarten Center in the Grove City Area School District, Jeffrey McMahon, a first-grader at Grove City Christian Academy; Raquel DeCarbo, a second-grader at Shenango Elementary School; and Bethany McMurdy, a third-grader at Grove City Christian Academy.

Winners are listed by school below by district

BUTLER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
Trevor Gahagan      "The Zebra, Monkey and Moose…," Center
                               Township Elementary, Kindergarten
Caroline Simms       "The Twin Mystery," Center Township
                               Elementary, Kindergarten
Elizabeth Simms      "The English Homework Thief," Center
                               Township Elementary, Kindergarten
Cloie Trufley            "Zebra and Wolf’s Adventure," McQuistion
                               Elementary, First Grade
Nick Balestrino        "Scott the Daydreamer," Center Township 
                               Elementary, Second Grade
Carrissa Blystone   "A Girl Named Ashely," Center Township
                               Elementary, Second Grade
Madyline Lawrence "No Title," Center Township Elementary, 
                               Second Grade
Tyler Snodgrass      "Zoey and Max’s Treasure Hunt," Center
                               Township Elementary, Second Grade
Jefferson Ford         "Fishy O’s," Northwest Elementary, Second
                               Grade
Julia Marchyshyn     "The Weird Story," Northwest Elementary,
                               Second Grade
Morgan Sandusky   "The Haunted House," Center Township 
                               Elementary, Third Grade
Catherine Simms     "The Princess and the Dragon," Center
                               Township Elementary Third Grade
Kaitlynn English      "The Bug Party, McQuistion Elementary,
                               Third Grade
Emily Srock              "Snow Day," McQuistion Elementary, Third
                               Grade
Andrew Daller         "The Melting Clocks," Northwest Elementary,
                               Third Grade
Jaclyn King              "The Dophin and Fish’s Rock Band," Northwest
                               Elementary, Third Grade

FRANKLIN SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Hannah Dickson     "Oscar’s Adventures," Sandy Creek Elementary,
                              Second Grade
Titus Snavely         "The Land of Zebla," Sandy Creek Elementary,
                              Second Grade
Noah Cowles         "Our Adventure," Polk Elementary, Third Grade
Sierra M. Pizza       "Mystery of the Magical Book," Polk Elementary,
                              Third Grade
Nicole Way             "Abagail and the Test," Sandycreek Elementary,
                              Third Grade

GROVE CITY AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Abby Biddle*          "A Party for a Friend," Washington Kindergarten
                              Center, Kindergarten
Jeffrey McMahon*  "Aliens Meet Earth," Grove City Christian Academy,
                              First Grade
Lindsey Cummings "The Big Cricket," Grove City Christian Academy, 
                              First Grade
Gabrielle Herald     "Me and My Dog," Highland Primary Center, First
                              Grade
Emma Lowers        "Carmal’s Life With Us," Highland Primary Center,
                              First Grade
Hannah Weller       "The Magic of Friendship," Highland Primary Center,
                              First Grade
Beth Covert           "Horses," Grove City Christian Academy, Second
                              Grade
Janae Powell         "Kacey’s Cat," Grove City Christian Academy, 
                             Second Grade
Caleb Buzulak       "The Three Little Germs," Highland Primary Center, 
                             Second Grade
Tori Green             "The Two Best Gardens in Town," Highland Primary 
                             Center, Second Grade
Bethany McMurdy*"The Mighty Python," Grove City Christian Academy,
                              Third Grade
Kayla Wilburn        "The Adventures of Mystery Man, Hillview
                              Intermediate, Third Grade
Audrey Wright       "Cinderella and the Barking Slipper," Hillview 
                              Intermediate, Third Grade

LAKEVIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Joseph Grim           "Sled Riding," Oakview Elementary, Kindergarten
Danielle Williams    "The Loose Tooth," Oakview Elementary,
                              Kindergarten
Hannah Grim          "My Friend," Oakview Elementary, First Grade
Jeanine Sturgeon   "Kitty Kitty Finds a Home," Oakview Elementary, 
                              First Grade
Courtney Carothers "The Sleep Over Party," Oakview Elementary,
                              Second Grade
Brandon Williams   "The Castle Adventure," Oakview Elementary,
                              Second Grade

MERCER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Brad Filer               "Circus Bears," Mercer Elementary, First Grade
Hannah Schmid      "The Boy Who Loved Space," Mercer Elementary,
                              First Grade
Bethany Juergens  "The Missing Hamster," Homeschooled, Second
                              Grade
Jacob Schmid         "The Bully," Mercer Elementary, Third Grade
Miriam Bates          "The Long Journey," Homeschooled, Third Grade

NESHANNOCK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Taylor Jo Norris      "The Tall Tree," Neshannock Memorial Elementary,
                              Second Grade
Julianne Urban       "My Favorite Color," Neshannock Memorial
                              Elementary, Second Grade
Samantha Martin   "Oh Brother," Neshannock Memorial Elementary,
                              Third Grade
Drew Wagner        "The Strike Out Kid," Neshannock Memorial
                              Elementary, Third Grade

SHENANGO AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Raquel DeCarbo*   "The Flower and the Butterfly," Shenango 
                              Elementary, Second Grade
Lacee Kent             "The Magical Horse," Shenango Elementary,
                              Second Grade
Hayley Avena         "The Cats Musical," Shenango Elementary, Third
                              Grade

SLIPPERY ROCK AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Emily Appel            "Tonto," Slippery Rock Elementary, First Grade
Lindsay Boettner   "My Alaska Trip," Slippery Rock Elementary, First
                              Grade
Casey Seaman       "Little Miss Perfect," Slippery Rock Elementary, 
                              Second Grade
Alyssa Stainer        "Julia’s Adventure," Slippery Rock Elementary,
                              Second Grade

WEST MIDDLESEX AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 
Tom Blair                "Snap," Luther Low Elementary, Kindergarten
Casey Mild              "The Green," Luther Low Elementary, Kindergarten

*Denotes overall winner per grade level.