FIRST GRADER WINS STATE WRITING AWARD

CARROLLTON, GA – Carrollton Elementary School first grader Orrin Maggiano is one of the top winners from Georgia in the PBS KIDS Writers Contest, sponsored by Georgia Public Broadcasting. The PBS KIDS Writers Contest is a national program sponsored by Public Broadcasting Service affiliate stations across the country.

The contest encourages children in kindergarten through third grade to submit original, illustrated stories for prizes and a chance to be featured on the GPB website. Hundreds of works were submitted for the contest, with first, second and third places chosen for each grade plus one STEAM winner per grade for stories that incorporate science, technology, engineering, arts or math.

Orrin, his family and his teacher Natalie Wiggins have been invited to attend a recognition program honoring him and other state winners on Saturday, May 18, at the GPB headquarters in downtown Atlanta. While there, Orrin and the other winners will record their stories in the GPB studios. These recordings, animated with each writer’s original artwork, will be featured on the GPB website.

Orrin’s story, titled “The Confused One,” is about a vampire babysitter who escaped out a window but was ultimately captured.

“The funny part of the story is the little boy didn’t know what a babysitter was,” Orrin said. “He thought it was someone who sits on babies!”

Orrin was also a school-level winner in the Young Georgia Authors Contest. He is the son of Drs. Corey and Isabel Maggiano and has an older sister, Kaia, a fourth grader at Carrollton Middle School.

CUTLINE

Carrollton Elementary School first grader Orrin Maggiano poses with CES Principal Kylie Carroll, left, and teacher Nathalie Wiggins following the announcement he is a state winner in the PBS KIDS Writers Contest.