Youth Writing Winners Honored

Winners of the Barbara Champion Memorial Creative Writing Contest were scheduled to be honored Friday night by the San Fernando Valley chapter of Phi Delta International, one of the largest education professional organizations in the nation.

Jordan Ball, a fourth-grader at Pomelo Drive Elementary School, Fee Ramos, a sixth-grader at Hale Middle School, and Aran Hong, an eighth-grader at Sepulveda Middle School, were each given $50 savings bonds at a meeting of Phi Delta Kappa, held at the Airtel Hotel in Van Nuys.

The winning essays were selected from nearly 160 entries from public schools in the Valley. The overall theme was “Making a Difference.”

Thomas Campbell, a first-grade teacher at Noble Avenue Elementary who judged the essays, said the specific topic addressed by students varied. The youngest students were asked to write about a community issue, recycling. The middle school students wrote about world peace, gangs and guns. The high school students were asked to write about people or events that made a difference in their lives.

“It’s nice to know that our kids today like to write,” Campbell said. “I was surprised and in awe of how creative these kids were.”

Bob Fishman, acting president of Phi Delta Kappa and principal at Lorne Street Elementary, said the purpose of the contest is to allow students to practice writing outside the confines of the classroom, and use good grammar and vocabulary to tell a story.

The contest, which existed for 20 years as the Phi Delta Kappa Creative Writing Contest, was renamed last year to honor a principal at Chatsworth Park Elementary who died a few years ago.

Fishman said Champion always had a hand in promoting the contest, collecting entries and judging them. It was fitting, he said, for it to be named for her.