Congratulations to David Matej, who won first place in the second grade category for his poem “Spring Baseball and Winter Basketball,” and to his sister Barbara Matejova, who won second place in the twelfth grade category for her poem “Not Yet Right: A Villanelle,” in the Delaware County Young Poets competition, sponsored by the Delaware County Library System.  They have been invited to read their poetry aloud at the awards ceremony.

Congratulations to Stephanie Meell (”My Sledding Hill”) and David Null (”The Slingshot Sled”), whose poems have been published on Cricket Magazine’s web site at http://www.cricketmag.com/activity_display.asp?id=2019

Congratulations to Sam Anthony, whose short story “The Accidental Invalid” won first place in the writing competition sponsored by the Delaware Valley College English department.  Sam’s story will be published in Delaware Valley’s literary magazine The Gleaner.

Congratulations to the following students, whose poems received “Top Ten” recognition from Creative Communication:

• Grades K-3:  Maggie Harnish (“A Horse Named Pete”) and Sarah Null (“Sewing with my Mom”)  
• Grades 6-12:  Patrick Devine (“Right Down Santa Claus Lane”) and Ace Robinson (“Dad Travel”)

Each of these students will receive a savings bond and a complimentary copy of the book.

We think that this is a Creative Communication record, that is to have four of the “Top Ten” poems authored by students from the same school, and they were competing with students throughout the nation.  Hearty congratulations to the students for all their hard work and to Dr. Traver for getting them to do it!  This is a huge honor for our school and wonderful national recognition for our language arts/writing program.

Congratulations to the following students who won “Gold Key” in the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards:  Sam Anthony (Humor “The Accidental Invalid”), Josh Carroll (Humor “Star Heck”), Patrick Devine (Humor, 3 poems, “Right Down Santa Claus Lane,” “How the Brinch Stole Easter,” and “The Night of the Living Dad”), Noelle Ludlum (Personal Essay “Many Roads Diverge in a Yellow Wood”), and Samuel Miller (Humor “A Day in the Life of Oliver Kendal Colmes”).  Patrick and Sam Miller were also offered scholarships for a summer writing program through the Young Scholars Program, and all TAA entries have been sent on to the national level.  Bravo!  Out of more than 100,000 works submitted to the 76 regional programs throughout the country, 30,000 received recognition, and 10,000 have been submitted to the national level.   From this number, 400 will win either a Gold or Silver Medal in the National Awards, across all writing categories (including those above, plus “Short short story,” “Poetry,” “Drama,” etc.  This is a huge honor for Dr. Traver and our school.

Congratulations to Barbara Matejova, whose story “The Hike” was chosen by the ETS ( Educational Testing service) to be considered for use as an SAT passage.  “The Hike” was written when Barbara was in 9th grade and won top honors in the nationwide writing contest, “Take it from the Top,” sponsored by Weekly Reader’s Writing Magazine.  We can now say that we not only do well on the SAT tests, but we are now helping to write the tests! 

TAA fifth grader David Null’s Downingtown East Middle School hockey team won the championship for the middle school league.  They won 4 to 2 against Avon Grove for the championship game on March 12.  It was a tie game 2-2 and David scored a goal to make it 3 to 2.  He scored the goal late in the third period so the Downingtown team was able to keep Avon Grove from scoring again.  Avon Grove even pulled their goalie to see if they could score with another player on the ice, only to have Downingtown score on their empty net.  Congratulations, David!

We are thrilled that Albert Manginelli participated in the American Accordion Musicological Society Festival in March at The Inn at Valley Forge.  He entered the young people’s competition for children up through 16 yrs and he won first place.  He received a $50 cash award and a large trophy.  It was quite exciting since this was a first-time experience.  Albert will play the accordion at TAA for our April 18 spring music performance, which is always fun for our students and families. He’s looking forward to playing his Sigmund Romberg (jazz composer) piece at that time, too.  Way to go, Albert!

Congratulations to David Null (Grade 5) and Stephanie Meell (Grade 6) who won the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) essay contest, competing with four DAR chapters. Their essays have been submitted to the state level. All participating students received a certificate from Mrs. Graf of the DAR.

Congratulations to the following Gladwyne Library’s 36th Junior Author Contest winners:  Patrick Devine (poem “Right Down Santa Clause Lane,” Honorable Mention), Maggie Harnish (poem “A Horse Named Pete,” first place), Stephanie Meell (poem “My Sledding Hill,” second place), Ace Robinson (poem “Dad Travel,” first place), and Mikhail Shevchenko (poem “Whipping Wind Weather,” Honorable Mention).   There were a total of 851 entries from 17 different area schools!

Both Ace Robinson’s and Maggie Harnish’s poems will be published in Main Line Life in the upcoming months.