The Writing Tutor Promotes Writing with a Special Summer Edition of The Young Authors Writing Contest

The special summer edition of The Writing Tutor’s Young Authors Writing Contest is open to students who will be entering grades 5 through 12 in the fall of 2005. The DEADLINE for submitting an entry to the summer writing contest is August 30, 2005. All entries must be received no later than 10:00 p.m. CST on this date. Entries received after this deadline will not be considered.

Each young author may submit up to two manuscripts to the writing contest. Manuscripts may be either fiction or nonfiction, and will be judged in four categories: grades 5 & 6, grades 7 & 8, grades 9 & 10, and grades 11 & 12. Three winners will be selected from each age group. Fiction and nonfiction entries will be judged in the same category. Entries will be judged based on content, organization, style, syntax, usage, and mechanics.

The winning entries from each writing contest will be published online and will be archived as examples of quality student writing to which other young writers may refer. Nonfiction manuscripts should be factually accurate and credit must be given to any sources used by the writer. Credit should be incorporated into the text (as in a magazine or newspaper article), not provided in list form at the end of the manuscript.

Winning writing contest entries will be published on The Writing Tutor web site, and winners will receive certificates. A copy of the certificate and the winning entry will be sent to each winner's teacher and school.

For complete rules and a complete description of the judging criteria, please visit www.thewritingtutor.biz/contests. Writing contest entries are accepted online.

For additional information about The Writing Tutor or The Young Authors Writing Contest, please contact Michele R. Acosta or visit www.TheWritingTutor.biz.

About The Writing Tutor’s founder:

Michele R. Acosta has an M.A. in education, a B.A. in communication/journalism, and the equivalent of an undergraduate major in English. She is certified by the State of Illinois to teach high school English and middle school language arts, has an endorsement in journalism, has taught and advised high school student publications, and has taught ACT preparation classes in addition to teaching high school English. The instructor is registered as a tutor with Deerfield Public School District 109 and with Township High School District 113. (Both districts are located in the State of Illinois.)

Acosta's primary areas of expertise include teaching writing skills and the writing process to a wide range of ability/skill levels, ranging from a "back to basics" review to the refinement of Advanced Placement (AP) English level writing skills.

Additional areas of expertise include teaching self-editing skills and reading strategies, as well as developing the ability to think and write about literature or content in other humanities-based disciplines.

In addition to tutoring students and writing curriculum for enrichment and remediation classes, the instructor has also taught a yearbook enrichment class to 5th graders at Walden Elementary School in Deerfield, Illinois. The enrichment program is sponsored and organized by the Walden PTO.

The instructor is a Deerfield resident, has children enrolled in Deerfield Public School District 109, and has lived in the Deerfield vicinity for most of her life.


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