I am so excited for the 38 award winners that we have for the Southwest Prarie Conference Literary Festival.  I am so proud of our students and their ability  to continue to be successful in a number of competitions.  We will see how these students have placed at this year's festival (April 14).

Thank you to Toussaint Egan!!!!!  Toussaint came back to visit OEHS this past Friday.  He did such a great job performing 2 poems and giving students advice on life, college, and writing.  I was so honored and humbled to see such an amazing person/writer returning to our school.  When I see how well my students are doing, I can't help but be bursting with pride.

Congratulations to Carissa Hartwig on her poetry slam win.  I had such a great time listening to my talented students read and perform their work.  This was one of those days where I can't believe that I get paid to do this job.

I understand that it has been some time since I updated this.  In fact, I don't think I have really tried to use this at all.  I can not say enough great things about 2010 and all of the good fortune that it brought.  I had the honor of attending a poetry slam with some of the top poets in the world this past winter.  The best part of all, was the fact that Touissant Egan (former student) was one of the headliners.  I love to see my students flourishing in the poetry world. 

Also, we dominated at the Millikin University Literary Festival.  Morgan Brown took 1st place and a number of other students won honorable mention.  This was our best finish ever.  The last time we placed, we took 2nd (Touissant Egan).  I expect great things from Morgan Brown and our other award winning writers.

Finally, we had 25 students published in the poetic power anthology of poetry.  This was the best finish we have ever had in this competition.

I expect our students to continue their domination and passion for writing.  Sometimes, I can't believe that I am being paid to do this.  I have so much fun helping all of my students find out about competitions.  I have to admit that I love winning, but at the heart of all of the competition is a passion for writing.

I look forward to an even better 2011.  Best of luck to all of our participants at Lit. Fest.  It took me a few months to make our final selections.  This lets me know that we will be a force to be reckoned with. 

Thanks for reading...now go write something!!!

Mr. Ochoa