Writing Competition
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ Trailblazer Committee is delighted to announce the winners of its 2024 Writing Competition. Texas-area fourth graders were invited to submit either a poem or an essay, using the prompt, “My Magical Rodeo Garden”.
Each entry was judged by committee volunteers in two, double blind rounds on the following criteria: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions and Presentations.
Following the committee judging. the top entries were reviewed by an education panel to confirm they met all criteria for the competition. The final round of judging was conducted by a panel of celebrity judges including: Kristen Bird, suspense/mystery novelist, and high school teacher in Houston, TX; Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, TX; Cathey Nickell children’s book author in Bellaire, TX; April Lopez, children’s book author and baker in Diboll, Texas; April M. Salazar children’s book author and podcaster, in Houston, TX; and Trent Wilmon, Texas born singer-songwriter and CMA award-winning producer.
Hats off to our judges and volunteers and most importantly to our Texas student authors on a job well done!
2024 Winners
ESSAY
1st Place – Jordan Kinsler, Kilpatrick Elementary –
Katy, Texas
2nd Place – Blaire Andel, Newgulf Elementary –
Boling, Texas
3rd Place – Soham Joshi, Commonwealth Elementary –
Sugar Land, Texas
POETRY
1st Place – Kennedy Standridge, Bush Elementary –
The Woodlands, Texas
2nd Place – Lyndsay Crisp, Karrer Campus –
Marion, Texas
3rd Place – Eyan Hernandez, Williamson Elementary –
Houston, Texas
TRAILBLAZER’S CHOICE
Essay – Jaden Leihsing, Johnson Ranch Elementary –
Bulverde, Texas
Poetry – Grady Foret, Warren Elementary
Warren, Texas
Read the essays and poems here.
CONTACT US
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
NRG Center
3 NRG Park
Houston, Texas 77054
Email: [email protected]