The Great Tree Story Contest is designed for the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) third grade students studying living systems. The focus of the contest is to identify and celebrate trees that are significant to an individual or community while integrating science, social studies, and language arts third grade curriculum.
Entries for the 2010 essay contest are now being accepted. Contest rules, entry template and prizes for winning authors and their school are included in the teachers' packet.
** Deadline for Entries: 5pm on February 26, 2010 **
Past Contest Winners
Read the 2009 winning essays:
Grand Prize essay: The Hugging Tree by Jacob R. Coffey
First Prize essays: My Special Plum Tree by Roman Julian Mejia
First Prize essays: My Family Tree by Daniel Barnes
Honorable Mentions: Family Tree by Genaro Melendez
Honorable Mentions: The Best Apple Tree by Cedrina J. Landrum
Honorable Mentions: The Lakehouse Tree by Alexandra C. Bruhn
Honorable Mentions: Gran and Grandads Tree by Luke Lashley Taylor
On May 15, 2009, the 2009 grand prize author, Jacob Coffey (of Alice Carlson Applied Learning Academy), and first prize authors, Roman Julian Mejia and Daniel Barnes (both from Daggett Montessori School) and their classmates spent a day at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge.
The day began with the winning authors sharing their stories with students across Texas via videoconference. Guest of honor, Deborah Ferguson of Channel 5 News then read Alan Zweibel’s Our Tree Named Steve, and presenting the winners with tree saplings.
After a picnic lunch, the center’s biologists gave the students a tree tour of the 3600 + acre center.
Read the 2008 winning essays:
Grand Prize essay: My Front Yard Tree by Randy Ortiz
First Prize essay: Grandparents Tree by Gabbye Guess
Honorable Mentions: A Tree with a Story by Julio Argueto
Honorable Mentions: The Lonely Tree by Turner Black
Honorable Mentions: The Beautiful Tree by Megan North
Honorable Mentions: The Growth of John Peter Smith by Daniele Kelley
Read more about the 2008 Ring Bearers
The 2009 Great Tree Story Essay Contest is made possible by members of the Great Tree Ring, the Forth Worth ISD, and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, organizations who love trees and children!
