Letters About Literature champions honored at Capitol

The three champions of Washington’s 2008-09 Letters About Literature contest were honored by Secretary of State Sam Reed and State Librarian Jan Walsh in a ceremony at the State Capitol.

April 11, 2009 1:31 am
Washington State Librarian Jan Walsh (fifth from right) stands with the families of the three Letters About Literature champions. The Level I champion is Laura Claypool (fourth from right) and the Level II champion is Austin Horjus (fifth from left). The Level III champ
Washington State Librarian Jan Walsh (fifth from right) stands with the families of the three Letters About Literature champions. The Level I champion is Laura Claypool (fourth from right) and the Level II champion is Austin Horjus (fifth from left). The Level III champ

The three champions of Washington’s 2008-09 Letters About Literature contest were honored by Secretary of State Sam Reed and State Librarian Jan Walsh in a ceremony at the State Capitol.

The contest encourages students in grades 4-12 to write a personal letter to an author, explaining how his or her work shaped their perspective on the world or themselves. Students can write about works of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.

The winners are:

• Laura Claypool, a sixth-grader at Tillicum Middle School in Bellevue, is the Level I (grades 4-6) champ. Claypool wrote her letter to Sharon Creech about the book “Bloomability.”

• Austin Horjus, an eighth-grader at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, is this year‚ Level II (grades 7-8) winner. Horjus wrote his letter to Harper Lee about “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

• Michael Bouterse, an 11th-grader from Fox Island who attends Gig Harbor High School, is the Level III (grades 9-12) champion. Bouterse wrote his letter to Sophie Scholl about the book “At the Heart of the White Rose: the Letters and Diary Entries of Hans and Sophie Scholl.”

Claypool and Horjus read their letters aloud during an earlier ceremony today in front of their families and Walsh. Bouterse was unable to attend the ceremony, but a DVD of him reading his winning letter was shown during the ceremony. His mother, Dr. Susan Bouterse, his sister, Leah, and brother, Alex, accepted the award on his behalf.

“What a tremendous honor for Laura, Austin and Michael, as well as all of the semifinalists,” Reed said. “These students, their families and their teachers should be very proud of what they accomplished.”

This year’s contest received entries from 2,379 Washington students. In addition to the three champions, those in attendance out of the contest’s 167 semifinalists at all three grade levels (including the 29 honorable mentions) were recognized in front of their families, Reed and Walsh during the main ceremony in the Legislative Building’s Rotunda.

“Letters About Literature not only encourages students to read,” Walsh said. “It allows students to express how books influence and shape all of our lives. The champions and semifinalists make me, as the Washington State Librarian, proud of the students in our state.”

This is the fourth year that the State Library and the Office of Secretary of State have sponsored the competition as part of Washington Reads. The project is also sponsored by the Center for the Book, Library of Congress and Target stores. The State Library is a division of the Office of Secretary of State.