Marshall County Young Writers Honored

Students who read their stories during the Young Writers Tea are pictured. Front row from left: Andi Downing, Peyton Yeater, Lincoln Novick, Jackson Springer and Nickolas Skidgel. Back row from left: Emma Turvey, Abby Allman, Alexis Thompson, Dorothy Sampson, Remy Castilow, Zuri Alford and Olivia O'Neil. — Students who read their stories during the Young Writers Tea are pictured. Front row from left: Andi Downing, Peyton Yeater, Lincoln Novick, Jackson Springer and Nickolas Skidgel. Back row from left: Emma Turvey, Abby Allman, Alexis Thompson, Dorothy Sampson, Remy Castilow, Zuri Alford and Olivia O’Neil.

It’s rare you have the chance to hear the author of a story read to you in person. However, parents, relatives and educators who gathered in the John Marshall High School Commons Tuesday evening had the chance to hear the voices of award-winning young writers who attend a school in Marshall County.

Students who placed in the annual Marshall County Literacy Council’s Young Writers contest were invited to read their original stories to an audience during the Young Writers Tea. Every story was also printed in the 2025 Marshall County Young Writers Anthology.

The contest began with more than 150 submissions countywide. Twenty-one students, in first through tenth grade, received recognition for their well-written stories.

Entries varied on topics, but each submission was composed during the current school year, during school hours and supervised by a teacher. Compositions were judged based on ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions.

All students who placed first in the county are invited to attend Young Writers Day on Friday, May 2, 2025, at the University of Charleston.

The Young Writer’s contest has been held in Marshall County since 1984.