PBS SoCal Announces Winners of 8th Annual PBS Kids Writers Contest
Awards Ceremony May 24 at Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles, May 10, 2017 – PBS SoCal today named the winners of its 8th Annual PBS Kids Writers Contest. The creative writing competition, open to children in grades K-3, is designed to promote the advancement of children’s literacy skills through hands-on, active learning. More than 570 students – the largest number of submissions to date -- from the greater Los Angeles and Orange County area entered original stories that included their own illustrations.
The original stories were judged by a panel of community partners and PBS SoCal Education staff on the basis of creativity, originality, story structure, relevance, illustrations, and overall quality. First, second, and third place winners were selected for each grade level.
The 2017 PBS SoCal PBS Kids Writers Contest Winners:
Kindergarten
1st Place Amara M. Agarwal, Irvine - “Magic, Monstar and the Amulet of Carlia”
2nd Place Roger Higuera, Carson - “A Happy Mushroom”
3rd Place Angela Dari Ganzorig, Los Angeles - “Secret World of the Rainbow”
First Grade
1st Place Grigoryan Areg, Van Nuys - “Riddles About Birds”
2nd Place Juan Santos Barboza, Compton - “My Lego Dream”
3rd Place Carrick Ahland, Long Beach - “Crazy Chicken and the Supervillain Sly Fox”
Second Grade
1st Place Ashley Medina, Carson - “My Monster Princess”
2nd Place Anyd Yanzhen Wang, Los Angeles - “Best Sister and Brother”
3rd Place Jude Zulueta, Carson- “Illustrated by Ben”
Third Grade
1st Place Kayla Graff, Santa Monica - “Where is Sleep?”
2nd Place Phoebe Morris, Huntington Beach - “Iris See: Spy in Training”
3rd Place Sophia Marcela Kakes, Victorville - “Wear Your True Colors”
Winners and their families will be honored at a special ceremony at the Los Angeles Public Library, on May 24 from 5 – 7 p.m. Each child will have the opportunity to read their stories to the assembled guests and will receive certificates and prizes for their writing efforts.
About the PBS Kids Writers Contest
The PBS Kids Writers Contest supports our mission to foster a love of learning, culture, and community throughout Southern California. Through this initiative, PBS SoCal hopes to advance children’s literacy skills and encourage them to exercise their creativity and imagination. The program also offers students, parents, and teachers a wealth of online educational resources designed to help children build their writing, reading and language skills. Materials are available at pbssocal.org/education.
About PBS SoCal
PBS SoCal is the home to PBS for Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. We deliver the full schedule of PBS programs plus content that is for, about and by the people of Southern California. Our content is available free through four broadcast channels, at pbssocal.org, on our mobile apps, and via connected TV services. And we provide the community with early education resources and cultural and educational experiences through partnerships, events and grassroots outreach. PBS SoCal has offices in Century City, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles. Connect with us at pbssocal.org Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
# # #
Media Contact:
Tracy Smith, PBS SoCal (310) 237-4517 or tsmith@pbssocal.org