Four High Tech Students Receive Honorable Mention in 2019 Letters About Literature

(New Brunswick, NJ--May 15, 2019) Each 9th grade essay by North Bergen residents Camille Garcia and Caroline Haviland, Jersey City resident Jordyn Weathers, and Madison Steinel-Duboue of Union City has received Honorable Mention in the New Jersey Center for the Book/Library of Congress 2019 Letters About Literature, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.

In the Level III category, which covers 9th-12th graders, Garcia wrote her letter to Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games), Haviland penned hers to Mitch Albom (author of For One More Day), Steinel-Duboue composed to Madeleine L’Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time), and Weathers wrote to Angie Thomas (author of The Hate U Give).

Judges for Letters About Literature include authors, publishers, librarians, and educators. The first two rounds of reading occurs at the Library of Congress, which determines which letters advance to state-level judging. First place state winners only advance for national judging.

Letters About Literature, a reading/writing contest for students in grades 4-12, recognizes students who read a book, poem, or speech and compose letters (essays) to authors, whether living or dead, on how the authors’ works affect them personally. Judges review letters on state and national levels. Tens of thousands of students from across the country enter Letters About Literature every year.

(from left to right: Jordyn Weathers, Joan Marie Bellotti, and Madison Steinel-Duboue)

(Camille Garcia and Caroline Haviland)