Seven Snoqualmie Middle School students were recognized for writing extraordinary essays at a ceremony held Friday, April 4, at the the Washington State Capitol Rotunda in Olympia.

The students participated in the Letters About Literature contest, in which young readers write letters to their favorite authors explaining how his or her work shaped their perspective on the world or themselves. Students could write about works of fiction, nonfiction or poetry.

Each semi-finalist received a letter last month from Secretary of State Sam Reed and State Librarian Jan Walsh stating “your example proves the power of reading and writing to open doorways to new worlds.” Reed and Walsh were present on Friday to hand out certificates to the honorees.

Judges selected 181 semi-finalists from more than 2,500 Washington entries. A list of all semi-finalists, the authors they wrote to, and the books they wrote about is online at http://secstate.wa.gov/library/lal/2007_semifinalists.aspx. From the 181 semi-finalists, three champions and 23 honorable mentions were selected by Washington’s judges. The champion letters came from Puyallup and Olympia.

“We had a lot of fun roaming around the Capital and the campus taking pictures,” said semi-finalist Anika Loudenback. Snoqualmie Middle School set a record for the number of winners. The contest is sponsored by the Washington State Library, and the Secretary of State.