The St. Louis High School Language Arts Team had its first competition in Ithaca against Ovid-Elsie High School, and Swan Valley High School. The team left at 8:30 A.M. Sep. 20, and traveled to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in Ithaca, Michigan. The team returned around 11:40, confident in their abilities and technique in the competition. The competition was about an editorial they had to write about.

The team is smaller than it was last year. Consisting of three seniors and four juniors: Sarah Corson, Bee Elsea, Lexie Thayer, Rowan Harris, Samantha Simmons, and Carson Butcher. Although this year the team is smaller, the team is confident this will not falter their strategies and skills.

Corson said, “I don’t think it went horribly. I felt like we had plenty of time and we all timed it out to have a neat and worthy writing. I am excited for the next competition because I love the topic we’re writing about next. I felt I could have improved the way I worded things within the writing.

The team has two more competitions before the end of the year: fictionalized journal and poetry. These topics are something that most English classes do not teach due to the timeframe of the school year.

“When a student chooses to participate in the Language Arts team, they are committing to write in a creative, non-curricular space,” said Ms. Busch-Grabmeyer. “We have three competitions a year, and one of them is always poetry.  The Language Arts team is a non-traditional academic team that is really for anyone who enjoys writing, reading, or is willing to take a chance on something new!