GCR-2 — Getting published is a rare and exciting experience. Some seventh graders at Owensville Middle School (OMS) in Taylor Loughridge’s English class were lucky enough to have their spooky stories published online. The Dutch Mill staff members had the pleasure of speaking to two of those lucky students, Ivan Phillips and Roman Crowe.

When staff contacted Ivan and Roman they seemed quite excited.

“It was really fun because I really like writing,” said Roman, who has always liked writing and the opportunity to get published really piqued his interest. “My parents are really excited about this too.”

When asked about the writing process the students seemed to be a little bit frightened.

“With there being a 100 word limit on the story it was a little hard to fit it all,” said Ivan.

With this challenging prompt though, Roman and Ivan enjoyed the process and are beyond excited to see their stories posted.

Loughridge shared more information about contest, called Fright Club and how she found it.

“Young Writers USA Association sent me the information in the mail and it was just in time for spooky season,” Loughridge said.

So of course she had to make her students write horror stories! When asked why she wanted to enter her students into Fright Club, she said, “I love making them angry and have them write for hours on end…”

She made sure to emphasize that she was just kidding.

“I am a spooky season lover and horror stories are so fun so I thought it was perfect for an October project!” Loughridge said.

Of course she was so impressed and super proud of her students, saying, “They all worked very hard and I’m glad they had just as much fun as I did.” 

But sometimes it can be hard to stay on task and focused especially as a younger group. When prompted about the writing process, and how she encouraged them to participate, Loughridge replied with “I didn’t give them a choice,” she laughed  “I said you are writing me a spooky story and you will love every minute of it.”

Loughridge also said, “The writing process was very straightforward, they couldn’t go over a one hundred word limit so we focused on meaningful words that contributed to the quick plot.”

Loughridge’s class were the only students in the Gasconade County R-2 District to participate in the contest.

“It makes me feel proud!” she said. “I am always striving to be the best I can for each of my students and providing them with opportunities to be creative is a great way, to show them they can achieve anything!”

Loughridge informed our team that as long as students and their parents complete the online registration form, their story will be published on April 14, and is available to  order on the Young Writers USA website. The editor for the students’ stories is Lynsey Evans. Congratulations to all of the selected students!

“We hope to enter more contests for publishing,” Loughridge said. “I do have a few select students who have a real passion for writing that I have encouraged to enter more competitions.”