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The 2021 Susan Ann Brooks Short Story Contest

This contest honors the memory of Susan Ann Brooks, a wonderful colleague, friend, and elementary English school teacher who taught for 42 years in the Bay Area. Mrs. Brooks, named “Spirit of the Bear” by the Cherokee Nation, lived with an exuberant energy, humor, and belief in every child's life, story, and brilliance.

She mentored generations of students at public schools, at the International School of the Peninsula (now known as the Silicon Valley International School), and Belmont’s Camelot School, which she built with her husband and taught at for 17 years.

Besides serving as our honored Story Contest judge from 2013 to 2019, Susan will be remembered for her love of literature, Shakespeare, and a hearty laugh.

Susan Brooks

"The Funniest Day!" Story Awards 

for the 2021 Susan Ann Brooks Short Story Contest!


Congratulations!!

Thank you to all Story Contest participants!

In our eyes, everyone who submitted a story is a winner!

We know many of you have never submitted to a contest before. 

It takes time and courage to put yourself out there in the world.

So a big "high five" for "Showing Up!"

Everyone will receive a Certificate of Participation! Yay!

You will be able to pick up your Certificate at the Award ceremony. Save them as we plan on providing a special prize for those who can collect three from us!

A big thank you to Mr. Phil Brooks and Mr. Eric Brooks for being our guest judges in honor of Teacher Extraordinaire, Mrs. Susan Brooks.

The top stories for our "Funniest Day" Contest are the following:   


Tween Category:

  1. On the Edge of the Bright Window of Brightness - Candice and Caleb Leung
  2. Give and Take - Harshini Nagappan
  3. A Trap Went Wrong - Sophie Romanoff


Youth Category:

  1. Bouncy’s Adventure - K. H.
  2. A Dragon's Funniest Day - Celine Zhen
  3. An Unexpected Adventure - Temperance Tse
  4. Pizzadusa - Ivy Yu


Honorable Mentions:

  • The Magical Cookies - Johann Descamps
  • ..between whale and shrimp - Evan Chou
  • Harry the Heroic Hippo - Rishabh Sreejith
  • The Funniest Day of my Life - Isuare Leclercq Lamandé 
  • Two Guinea Pigs’ Funny Adventure - Nick Li


Participants:

For all those who did not end up on the list above. Don't worry!

Again, we congratulate you for submitting!

We encourage you to write another story for another contest, whether it's for ours or another group. Always have a story ready to go! We're currently vetting safe and credible sites and organizations to continue sharing your imaginative stories!


The Original Story Contest Post

(This Contest is closed. We hope you join us for the next one!)

Red Bull Racer

Caption: Team: 44. Pokemon Go-Kart From: London • Author Karen Roe from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK, United Kingdom

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The 2021 Susan Ann Brooks 

"The Funniest Day!"

Short Story Contest


Download the PDF Flyer. 👉


Hosted by 

Writing Coaches Royd Hatta & Shu-Hsien Ho

Beyond the Box Learning

(This Contest is closed. We hope you join us for the next one!)

Dear Parents, Teachers, Young Writers, and Friends,

We invite all young writers ages 7-18 to submit a short story based on the theme of "The Funniest Day." All genres are accepted: adventure, comedy, fantasy, sci-fi, realistic fiction, play, movie script, mystery, memoir, etc.

We will accept original, unpublished submissions from now through June 30, 2021.

(This Contest is closed. We hope you join us for the next one!)


Guest judges will review and select winning entries for the following age categories:

  • Young Writers: Ages 7-10
  • Tween Writers: Ages 11-13

Prizes: 

  • First place: $100 cash prize
  • Second place: $50 Linden Tree Books Gift Card 
  • Third Place: $25 Kepler's Books Gift Card

General Rules for Submission:

  • Times New Roman, 12 point font, double-spaced. 
  • Maximum 3000 words.
  • Include the following in the top left corner on the first page:
    • Writer's Full Name, Age
    • Parent's Full Name
    • Parent's Best Contact Email & Phone Number
  • Email as MS Word document (.doc or docx) to:

Participants, Top Honors, and Special Mentions will be contacted and announced by August 15.

(This Contest is closed. We hope you join us for the next one!)