4th grade essay winner and runner up (and more). Kids - Gotta love em :)

Essay Contest
4th Grade: Winner

Learning To Read Changed My Life
By Teddy Cross

My name is Teddy. I am writing this story for a contest. I have a little brother and a little sister. I am nine years old, but let's get down to the story. About one or two years ago I couldn't read, and it was terrible. Here are the reasons:

1. I am home schooled and I am not used to very much school work. In the evening Daddy and I would sound out words and practice reading. I didn't like it.

2. Daddy would also read to our whole family in the evening, and I would want him to keep on reading but he wouldn't. Mommy said I could read ahead as long as I didn't tell anybody what happened, except as you know, I couldn't read!

3. We get a science and technology magazine called WIRED. It has cool gadgets and lots of other stuff. Sometimes I would want to know what the article said, and more often what the words under interesting pictures said, so I would ask Mommy or Daddy to read it to me, but they weren't always available!

4. I have some books with activities in them and sometimes get some from the library. I would sometimes want to know how to do the activity, but I hardly ever knew how to because I couldn't read!

Well those are the reasons showing that not being able to read is terrible.

Now before I tell you how I learned to read, I'm going to tell you some things that you've probably been wondering about, like how old my little brother and little sister are. I am a boy. I was born on May first, 1996. I have a snake. I named it Slithery. It's a corn snake, and it hatched from its egg on June first 2003. My little brother's name is Zachary. He was born on March sixteenth, 1999. My little sister's name is Lexi. She was born on February twenty-eighth, 2004. We live in a 118-year old house. Well, those are the answers to some of the things you've probably been wondering about.

Now the thing that led me into reading was the paper. We started getting the paper in the Christmas Season of 2004 when they give special offers. We got the CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS. We had already been getting STAR WATCH, but that wasn't an option. The only reason Mommy would bring it in was for the WINN-DIXIE ad. When we started getting the paper Mommy and Daddy hoped the comics would help me read, and they did. Mommy also said that she read somewhere that some people when they are around 9 years old and can't read very well and then suddenly start reading, well I think that's what happened to me. Now I can read. Everything is a lot more fun. I can do a lot more things than I used to, and I think I am a lot smarter than I used to be. There are just a few annoying things about being able to read. One is that our library doesn't have all the books I want to read, except that I haven't even read half the books they do have that I want to read. Two is that I want to keep on reading my books and not do any work, but I can't.

Well, that's my story; I hope you liked it. As you probably know, knowing how to read is wonderful!

THE END.
http://www.lib.chattanooga.gov/ataleContest/2006/4thGradeW.html

Runner Up

Essay Contest
4th Grade: Runner-Up

"A Life-changing Event"
By Jessica Erhart

In my opinion, a life-changing event would be to become a Christian. You can become a Christian by asking Jesus Christ, my lord and Savior to come into your heart. On December 24th, 1999, I asked Jesus to come into my heart. When you become a Christian, you are a child of God. Jesus Christ died on the cross, so you and I could go to Heaven. He took the punishment for our sins! But something happened. Three days after He died, He rose from the dead! John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. '"

Some people think that they can work their way to Heaven. That cannot work, because they will not accept Jesus Christ in their hearts, and Heaven is a perfect place, with no sin. No matter what you say, everyone has sinned. The Bible says, " For all have sinned, and come short or the glory of God." When you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, your whole life is changed forever. You're not going to Hell anymore. You're going to Heaven. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

One way being a Christian changes your life, is that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are going to Heaven. In another way, for instance, if you ask Him as a Christian to help you control your temper, God can give you the strength not to get mad at one of your three brothers. Also, He could call you to become a missionary on the mission field. As you can see, when you're a Christian, God can change your life in many ways. That's why I think becoming a Christian is a life-changing event.


http://www.lib.chattanooga.gov/ataleContest/2006/4thGradeRU.html


http://www.lib.chattanooga.gov/ataleContest/contestWnrs.html
(Contest winners)

Other entries (for several years)
http://www.lib.chattanooga.gov/ataleContest/

No idea what got me to post this, was doing some online research and came across it. Life in the word of kids is something I find Amazing.