Wild imaginations are paying off for two fifth-graders at Pine Tree Elementary School.
Kylie Hess and Jake Gleason, both 10-year-old students in Jan Peacock’s writing group at Pine Tree, won awards in the Michigan Future Problem Solving program’s Scenario Writing Contest.
Hess, the daughter of Richard and Penny Hess, took second place in the 4th-6th grade division for her story about bullying. Gleason, the son of Mark and Mary Gleason, took fourth place for his story of a family emigrating to another planet.
All of the students in Peacock’s writing class studied five topics chosen by the Future Problem Solving program. The class wrote scenarios, 1,200 to 1,500 words long, set at least 20 years in the future and involving one of the topics.
‘I wrote about outer space and a family emigrating to this planet called ‘Duran,?? Gleason said. ‘This boy gets sick and they need to find a cure. I thought it would be neat to have a sickness…and I wanted it to be in outer space somewhere.?
Hess wrote about extreme bullying that led people to build high walls around their towns. With the help of an open-minded and courageous young woman, the walls are able to be torn down.
‘They had a problem, they couldn’t get out of their community because of bullying,? Hess explained. ‘We sometimes have assemblies at the beginning of the school year about bully-proofing.?
Outside of the story he wrote for the contest, Gleason has started to write a few stories on his own.
‘A few paragraphs,? he added. ‘I like to write a little. I was very surprised when I won.?
Hess said she sometimes writes for fun.
‘This is the first major story,? she said.
Hess? and Gleason’s stories were chosen out of 50 across the State of Michigan. They will travel to Eastern Michigan University with their families on March 28 to receive trophies during a special ceremony.