OECTA's 2010 Young Authors Awards recognize excellence in student writing

TORONTO, June 14 /CNW/ - Fifty students from across Ontario have won creative writing awards from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA). A complete list of the 2010 winners of Young Authors/Prix jeunes écrivains and their entries can be found in the Awards section on the OECTA website at www.oecta.on.ca

"This year's collection of poems, short stories, plays and non-fiction are both imaginative and heartfelt, by young authors in all grades from junior Kindergarten through Grade 12," says OECTA president James Ryan. "Their personal narratives reveal what peer pressure feels like and what it's like to be a new Canadian. Some students explore their connection to their family and their place in the world, while others delve into the world of fantasy and time travel. All are different and creative, presented in either of Canada's two official languages, English and French."

OECTA has fostered the Young Authors Awards as an effective literacy program in Catholic schools since 1985. Winners are selected from hundreds of entries across the province. For every student who makes it to the provincial level of competition, there are thousands more across the province who participate in, and benefit from, the program locally.

Following the preliminary judging done by teachers at the local level, 16 teachers from different OECTA units served on a provincial selection committee to choose the provincial winners.

The winning entries are published in a commemorative book, which is presented to each winning student. Copies are distributed to the students' schools, their teachers, to directors of education, school board trustee associations, and main branches of public libraries in the province. The Young Authors Awards publication is also shared with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty; Leona Dombrowski, the Minister of Education, and MPPs.

For further information: James Ryan, President, OECTA, Susan Perry, Professional Development Dept., 1-800-268-7230