Seventh Grader Snags Win in National Writing Contest
Idris Pickett, a student at Maplewood Middle School, is chosen as a winner in magazine's national writing competition.
Imagination and creativity helped make seventh grader Idris Pickett a winner in the Scholastic Scope magazine writing contest. A student at Maplewood Middle School, Pickett’s winning paragraph was selected as one of the 10 best in the nation.
The task was to write a paragraph that offered an answer to the problem: Pythons are invading the Everglades.
“I was very surprised,” Pickett said of his win, “because anyone from across the whole country could have won, and I was chosen as just one of ten.”
A student in Charles Schneekloth’s English Language Arts class, Pickett was asked along with his classmates to read a story in Scholastic Scope titled “Monsters of the Everglades.” The class was then presented with the task of creating a solution to deal with the invasion of the monsters.
The challenge read as follows: "Imagine that you are part of a team whose mission is to solve the problem of pythons taking over the Everglades. Based on what you learned about this problem, what is the most important step you might take to get it under control? Describe your plan in a well-organized paragraph."
“My idea was to bring other animals to the Everglades that are predators to pythons,” said Pickett. “These animals would kill some of the pythons or even capture them so they could be taken to other places.
In a letter from the editor of the magazine, Pickett was acknowledged for writing a well-structured paragraph and for successfully using the information contained in the article to write his piece.
Mr. Schneekloth introduced the magazine to his students as part of the recently revised English Language Arts curriculum. "We enter the Scholastic Scope writing contests because they are authentic opportunities to practice the writing skills needed for the NJ-ASK," he said.
The task was to write a paragraph that offered an answer to the problem: Pythons are invading the Everglades.
“I was very surprised,” Pickett said of his win, “because anyone from across the whole country could have won, and I was chosen as just one of ten.”
A student in Charles Schneekloth’s English Language Arts class, Pickett was asked along with his classmates to read a story in Scholastic Scope titled “Monsters of the Everglades.” The class was then presented with the task of creating a solution to deal with the invasion of the monsters.
The challenge read as follows: "Imagine that you are part of a team whose mission is to solve the problem of pythons taking over the Everglades. Based on what you learned about this problem, what is the most important step you might take to get it under control? Describe your plan in a well-organized paragraph."
“My idea was to bring other animals to the Everglades that are predators to pythons,” said Pickett. “These animals would kill some of the pythons or even capture them so they could be taken to other places.
In a letter from the editor of the magazine, Pickett was acknowledged for writing a well-structured paragraph and for successfully using the information contained in the article to write his piece.
Mr. Schneekloth introduced the magazine to his students as part of the recently revised English Language Arts curriculum. "We enter the Scholastic Scope writing contests because they are authentic opportunities to practice the writing skills needed for the NJ-ASK," he said.
