March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 47 F

Annapolis student places second in Maryland Humanities writing contest

Photo: Michelle Antoinette Nelson

Orlandra Foote, a middle school student at The Key School, received the runner-up prize in the state for Level Two entries (Grades 7–8) in the 2018 Letters About Literature contest, a program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, coordinated locally by Maryland Humanities. One hundred ten finalists from across Maryland were honored at the ceremony on May 12 in Baltimore City. Tara A. Elliott received the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Award, awarded to a Maryland teacher who works to promote reading by employing creative teaching methods to inspire students to read great literature. Elliot teaches English and Language Arts at Salisbury Middle School in Wicomico County.

Letters About Literature is a national program where students write to the author (living or dead) of a book, poem, or speech and express how the work changed their view of the world or themselves. Letters are judged on state and national levels. More than 46,000 students from across the country entered Letters About Literature this year. Readers in grades 4–12 are eligible to enter the contest. The first place winners for each contest level advance to the national level of the competition. Read the letters from the Maryland winners and runners-up.

Minh Lê—author of Let Me Finish! and the upcoming Drawn Together and Green Lantern: Legacygave the keynote address. In his remarks, Lê directly addressed each winner and runner-up with a response specific to the letter they wrote. The Honorable Paul Sarbanes, The Honorable John P. Sarbanes, Michael Sarbanes, and Becky Brasington Clark of the Library of Congress spoke, as well.

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