Abby Bateman of Snoqualmie Middle School won first place for Washington state in the middle school division, tier 2, of Letters About Literature, a national writing competition.

Bateman was chosen tops out of 81 semifinalists. A total of 1,587 middle school students entered the competition this year

She won a Target gift card and her essay was sent on to a national competition. The winner of the nationals wins a larger cash prize and a $10,000 grant to the library of their choice.  National winners will be announced this spring.

Bateman entered the contest as part of the writing curriculum in Rene Peterson’s writing class.  Students prepare and submit pieces for multiple contests as appropriate over the course of the school year. Each year, Peterson has at least one student win one contest. This is the first year she has had a student win this contest.