Congratulations to our 2017 Wordsmith winners! Wordsmith is an annual writing competition hosted by the University of Memphis English Department. It brings 200 middle and high school students from over 30 Memphis-area schools together. “Students compete in writing dashes,” explained faculty sponsor Jannica Gregory. “Each dash tests contestants in descriptive, figurative, narrative, expository, and/or persuasive writing.”

This year, WA participants took home awards in almost every category. Awards given were:

Molly Wallace (7th grade): Honorable Mention for 80-word dash

3rd place for 400-word dash

Edmond Fakes (8th grade): 2nd place for 80-word dash

Kendall Smith (8th grade): 1st place for 120-word dash

Anna Funes (9th grade): Honorable Mention for 80-word dash

Sarah Gentry (9th grade): 1st place for 40-word dash

Emily Carney (10th grade): Honorable Mention for 80-word dash

Gibby Fakes (10th grade): 3rd place for 40-word dash

Lucy Jones (11th grade): Honorable Mention for 40-word dash

3rd place for 80-word dash

Honorable Mention for 120-word dash

1st place for 400-word dash

Gold medal overall for 11th grade

Sophie Tusant (11th grade): 2nd place for 40-word dash

2nd place for 400-word dash

Bronze medal overall for 11th grade

Houston Newsome (12th grade): Honorable Mention for 40-word dash

1st place for 80-word dash

2^nd place for 120-word dash

Honorable Mention for 400-word dash

Silver medal overall for 12^th grade

Westminster also won, as a school, the following trophies for overall performance:

-1st place for 11th grade

-2nd place for 12th grade

-3rd place for 8th grade

Ms. Gregory said, “We are so proud of our students. Congratulations again, WA, on an outstanding performance!”