Cy Lakes student wins Letters About Literature contest

March 23, 2011 — Cypress Lakes High School sophomore Jada Brown was selected from among 5,200 submitted entries as the Texas state winner in the 2011 Library of Congress Letters About Literature contest for Level III – high school.

The Letters About Literature contest invites students in grades 4-12 to write a letter to a favorite author, living or dead, explaining how the author’s book changed the student’s way of thinking. The three competition levels are grades 4-6; 7-8; and 9-12.

Brown won $100 in cash, a $50 Target gift card and a free trip to Austin for the Texas Library Association conference on Friday, April 15, where she will read her letter before the Texas Association of School Librarians.

“We were thrilled to find out that Jada had won the state award for this contest,” said Cypress Lakes English teacher Sabrina Hodgson. “Cypress Lakes 10th-grade students have been working tirelessly to improve their writing skills all year. Jada and her classmates spent several days writing thought-provoking essays, editing their own work, critiquing one another’s work and re-editing letters in order to send in their best entry. We are so proud that Jada is being rewarded in such a wonderful way for her efforts.”

The Texas state contest is organized by the Texas Center for the Book at Dallas Public Library, which was established in 1987 to stimulate public interest in books, reading and libraries and to encourage the study of books and the printed word. One of more than 30 state centers affiliated with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Texas Center is a nonprofit organization funded by private donations. The Texas Center operates under the auspices of the Dallas Public Library and is guided by an advisory council composed of librarians, educators, authors, publishers and booksellers who provide leadership and support.