Power of the Pen Regionals…
All contestants are winners,
By Bob Robinson 

While trophies eluded Darke County 7th and 8th grade writers in the Power of the Pen Regional Competition Saturday, two local students in the Seventh Grade competition still scored in the top 15.

They were James McClure, Versailles Middle School, who came in seventh, and Camille Watren, also Versailles, who came in 15th.

Congratulations to James and Camille, as well as all other Darke County Regional winners who accepted the challenge to compete with more than a dozen other regional winners throughout the Southwest Ohio District. This year’s District Competition was hosted by Sidney Middle School, Sidney.

All are winners.

And all had only 40 minutes to complete each of three “prompts” for the two grade levels. Seventh grade prompts were: Outnumbered… Develop a narrative based on this word; The Weapon… Write about one that succeeds in getting you what you want; and The gold frame is beautiful but empty. Why is there no picture in it? Eighth grade prompts were: Obsessed… with what?; The Prize… Describe one that is not worth winning; and The Letter… Write about one you were never intended to read. Its contents are disturbing.

Following are Team and Top Individual Winners:

Sweepstakes (a compilation of both grades in the Regionals combined with team grades in District competition), One through Five:
Tippecanoe Middle School, Minster Middle School, McKinney Middle School, Fort Loramie HS and Ferguson Middle School.

Top four Seventh Grade teams:
Minster Middle School, Fort Loramie HS, Tippecanoe Middle School and Saint Marys Middle School.

Top Four Eighth Grade Teams:
Minster Middle School, Tippecanoe Middle School, McKinney Middle School and Ferguson Middle School.

Top Four Seventh Grade writers:
Maddi Fortman, Fort Loramie HS; Baer Wright, McKinney Middle School; Alexa Paulus, New Bremen Middle School; and Faith Walker, Tippecanoe Middle School.

Top Four Eighth Grade writers:
Hillary Benanzer, Fort Loramie HS; Alisha Bhagwat, Tippecanoe Middle School; Calderon-Gutierrez, Baker Middle School; and Talia Walters, Ferguson Middle School.

Best of Round, Seventh Grade:
Round 1 – Maddi Fortman, Fort Loramie HS; Round 2 – Cameron Roller, Piqua Catholic; and Round 3 - Alexa Paulus, New Breman Middle School.

Best of Round, Eighth Grade:
Round 1 – Frida Calderon-Gutierrez, Baker Middle School; Round 2 – Talia Walters, Ferguson Middle School; and Round 3 – Frida Calderon-Gutierrez, Baker Middle School.