Feb. 13, 2023 -- Roxboro Middle School’s eighth grade Power of the Pen team earned the 2nd place award for Excellence in Writing at this month’s Northern District tournament at St. Raphael school. Students competed in three 40-minute writing rounds with prompts like "Use this sentence in your story: 'I’m in'" and "The main character in your story gets exactly what they deserve."

Members of the team - all participating in Power of the Pen for the first time this year - are Elliott Egbert, Oliver Konkoski, Violet Rogers, Viv Schaffer, Ray Shapiro, and Lina Szak. The team was led by first-time coach Ms. Nelson. Two students, Violet Rogers and Lina Szak earned individual awards for their writing, placing in the top 12 out of 180 student writers. The team now awaits the final results of who will advance to the upcoming regional tournament.