Out of all city and county school 14 third-graders were selected as award winners for the Red Clay Celebrate Literacy Young Author’s Contest.

The contest is sponsored by the Red Clay Reading Association, a local council of the Tennessee Reading Association. All educators are encouraged to have students participate in the event.

Out of those 14 award winners, eight were from Blythe-Bower Elementary School.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my students,” said third-grade teacher Cassie Bailey.

Every child in Bailey’s class wrote and illustrated their own book on a subject of their choosing.

The students then decided if they wanted to submit the book to the contest or take it home immediately.

Submitted books were then judged at Lee University on their writing and illustration. Then 14 books were awarded an Olympic style Bronze, Silver or Gold from each grade level.

This is Bailey’s second year participating in the contest, and she said she plans on continuing for years to come.

“I think this is a really great opportunity for the kids. They work really hard on these books and they turn out really nice,” she explained.

Every member of Bailey’s class was recognized at an end of the school year event. A number of parents were on hand to watch as their children received awards for their hard work.

“We have such a good turnout today. It is always really positive to see so many parents out in the crowd supporting their children,” Bailey said.

To conclude the event the two gold medalists read their books for everyone.

Award winners were: Bronze: Julia Krentinskaya, Michael King, Jonah Bates, Eric Shutt; Silver: Jade Hathaway, Elaina McDaniel; Gold: Holly McDaniel, Marissa Graham.