The Sharon Academy

Every year since 1983, the University of Vermont College of Education and Social Services has held an annual Vermont Honors Competition for Excellence in Writing. "The purpose of the program has been to emphasize the importance of impromptu, expository writing by challenging students in grades 9-12 to express their ideas and insights around a given topic in essay form. Students' achievement in this category of writing is recognized and rewarded via certificates of achievement and monetary awards, which are earned by twenty finalists from around the state."

For the past three consecutive years, TSA has encouraged its student body to participate in this competition and challenge their writing skills outside of the classroom. Every January, TSA students from grades 9-12 compete on a voluntary basis: they are given a short prompt and an hour to respond in an essay format. The students are then assessed by a panel of teachers, and the finalists proceed to a regional competion in March, and if successful, proceed to the Finals in late May.

Students are judged by the following criteria:

• organization and clarity of thoughts, ideas, insights
• grammar, usage, and mechanics
• critical thinking
• originality and creativity

Past awards that TSA students have received beyond the regional competition:

• Spring 2006: Jarrod Szydlowski ('07) competed at State and took 3rd place in the 11th grade division
• Spring 2006: Jeanelle Achee ('09) competed at State and took 5th place in the 9th grade division
• Spring 2008: Hannah Root ('12) competed at State and placed in the 9th grade division