Power of the Pen is a statewide interscholastic program founded back in 1986 by late writer and teacher, Lorraine B. Merrill, for the purpose of bringing together junior high students from across the state to foster a love of creative writing. It was originally called the Olympics of the Pen, an event that was hosted by the Nordonia Junior High School, with over 170 students in attendance from 15 nearby middle schools. The NCMS team meets in person once a week, and throughout the season there are a total of three tournaments; districts, regionals and states. The season is kicked off in January with the district tournaments running through part of February, this according to the Power of the Pen webpage. After this the students that qualify move on to regionals in March, then state. At each of these tournaments students are given three 40 minute rounds to write three short stories, each one based off of a prompt they receive at the start of the round. These stories are fully read and scored by the end of the day, by which time an awards ceremony takes place. Each student is also given constructive feedback on their writing afterwards. The program is approaching its 40th birthday, yet this only the third year North Canton Middle School has been involved. And in that short span of time they have been incredibly successful, qualifying for states two out of the three years.

In preparation for the season the team reads through and studies the “Book of Winners” (a collection of exemplary works from student writers in years past). As well as writing and critiquing each other’s work.

Each school is allowed a team of 12 writers, made up of seventh and eighth graders alike. Students aren’t simply admitted, tryouts take place over the course of three weeks; in order to make this team students must submit an example of their own creative writing, and because of the limited spots available, their work is heavily picked through so that the strongest students are selected. At present time, however, the NCMS team has a total of 16 members, six seventh graders and six eighth graders, as well as four alternates.

The team’s head coach of three years, sixth grade English teacher, Mrs. Jessica Ventosa, speaks on why she chose to lead the NCMS team;

“I was involved in Power of the Pen as a middle school student,” Ventosa said. “So I have always wanted to coach and team and encourage fun creative writing.”

When asked about how the program impacts the kids involved, Ventosa said that Power of the Pen gives students a break from the more placid formal writing that frequently takes place in classes, and offers them an outlet for creative writing instead.

“The small team feel gives our students a sense of belonging and camaraderie that they may not have gotten to experience as well,” she said.