Clifford the Big Red Dog was welcomed by a sea of red Thursday at Hugh Goodwin Elementary School.
Representatives of the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) visited the school with Clifford to recognize two students who were recognized for their submissions in a writing contest.
Hugh Goodwin second-grader Josiah Williams and first-grader Sydney Rogers were recognized for their submissions in the AETN PBS KIDS writers contest.
Williams received first place in the second grade division for his original story, “I Wish (A Snail’s Tail).” Rogers placed second in the first grade division for her story “Cilia Sees Again.”
AETN received more than 300 entries, with more than 30 teachers submitting their entire class for the contest.
According to a press release, entries were judged on originality, creative expression, storytelling and integration of text and illustrations.
Williams’ story is about a snail named Will that finds a lamp, out of which a genie appears and grants him three wishes. In the end, the snail wishes everything would go back to normal because he missed his friends and didn’t like being alone.
With his story, he included photos which showed each character in the story.
“(Williams) actually modeled the snails and took photographs,” said Jamie Walters, marketing production coordinator for AETN PBS.
Walters added that was why Williams’ story was so interesting.
Rogers’ story included illustrations of her characters in her story, which was about a girl named Ciilia who was having trouble seeing, ultimately leading to her getting glasses.
Each winner received a AETN prize pack and first place winners won a PBS KIDS Playtime Pad, which included preloaded and educational games, music and videos.
AETN has held the writer’s contest for 10 years, but is just now becoming known in South Arkansas, Walters said.
“You have no idea how excited I was to see two winners, not one, but two winners from El Dorado,” she said.
The contest begins in January, with the deadline being the first Friday in April.
“This year, because we included the opportunity for Clifford to come to schools, we’ve had so many submissions, we ended up having to choose two different schools for Clifford to visit,” Walters said.
The writers contest is a national initiative designed to promote the advancement of children’s literacy skills through hands-on active learning.
The contest is the largest annual writing competition of its kind for children in kindergarten through third grade, the press release stated.
All of the stories, including the illustrations, are online at aetn.org/kids/writerscontest.
Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].