System-Wide Young Georgia Authors Winners Announced

The Hart County Charter System is proud to announce the 2023-2024 system-wide winners of the Young Georgia Authors writing competition.

The purpose of the Young Georgia Authors (YGA) writing competition is to encourage students to develop enthusiasm for and expertise in their writing, to provide a context to celebrate their writing successes, and to recognize student achievement in arts and academics.

“The Young Georgia Authors writing competition continues to serve as a platform for students to showcase their mastery of reading and writing skills cultivated in the classroom. These proficiencies are invaluable for their lifelong educational journey,” Superintendent Jennifer Carter said. “Our district acknowledges and appreciates the dedicated instruction our students receive. Our educators are committed to nurturing every student’s literacy skills. Congratulations to all district winners as well as the teachers, schools, and families they proudly represent!”

Each school in the Hart County Charter System achieved a system-wide winner in this year’s contest. Writings are entered into the state-level competition by winning at the tiered levels: the local school, district, RESA District, and the state. At the district level, schools submit a winner for each grade level and then a panel of judges selects the system-wide winners.

Unlike many writing competitions, YGA does not provide a prompt to which students must respond or provide any other boundaries to their genre choice or creativity beyond a 1900-word maximum length.

Entries may include: Short Stories, Poetry, Essays/Literary Criticism/Analysis, Journalism,
Academic/Research Reports, Personal Narratives, or Any Other Original Student Writing.

This prestigious competition has been engaging Georgia students for more than two decades and is open to any student currently enrolled in Georgia public schools, grades K-12. The competition is sponsored by the Georgia Language Arts Supervisors (GLAS) and the Georgia RESA Network with support from the Georgia Department of Education.

Hart County winners include:

Kindergarten – Paislyn Heard North Hart Elementary School
1st Grade – Zoey Borgesano Hartwell Elementary School
2nd Grade – Weston Berelc South Hart Elementary School
3rd Grade – Cecelia Le South Hart Elementary School
4th Grade – Harrison Carter North Hart Elementary School
5th Grade – Olin Gibson South Hart Elementary School
6th Grade – Alissa Holden Hart County Middle School
7th Grade – Henley Skelton Hart County Middle School
8th Grade – Eli Alewine Hart County Middle School
9th Grade – Gavin Glover Hart County High School
10th Grade – Isabella Ayers Hart County High School
11th Grade – Zoe Carter Hart County High School
12th Grade – Marlen Trujillo-Sanchez Hart County High School