Charles City sisters win agriculture writing contest

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

A pair of Charles City sisters swept the competition in the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation’s Bushel of Stories writing contest.

Open to grades 3-8, the contest provides resources to teach kids how books are made and how they can be used to both educate and entertain. From there, kids are asked to write a short story, fiction or non-fiction, about an aspect of agriculture or food production.

“In its third year, this ag literacy program has inspired more than 115 Iowa students to write and submit agriculture-themed stories,” said Kelly Foss, executive director of the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (IALF). “It’s exciting to see these student-authored stories, created through Iowa’s classrooms, come to life with creative illustration and professional editing. Our hope is to continue to inspire young authors, while providing more accurate agriculture books for young readers on bookshelves everywhere.”

7th grader Sydney Kehret and 4th grader Lucy Kehret took the first place prize in their respective middle school and elementary divisions.

Sydney’s book, “Megg and the Eggstraordinary Egg,” conveys what Sydney has learned about chickens and eggs while Lucy’s book, “R.P., The Farm Dog” is a book about dogs and other barnyard animals inspired by her grandparent’s farm.

Along with Sydney and Lucy, 5th grade sister Madelyn Kehret claimed third place in the elementary category for her book, “Skidder.”

“They were excited to get their books chosen,” said Alissa Kehret, the girls’ mother and home-school teacher. “It’s an honor that they were selected.”

Alissa said that her girls had already been working on their writing skills, so when she found out about the contest through Farm Bureau they were eager to enter.

In addition, Eliza Hoy and Artemis Maddox, 4th graders from Ionia, shared the second place prize in the elementary division for their co-authored book, “I Don’t Live on a Farm.”

Representatives from the IALF came to Charles City on Tuesday, Nov. 7 to celebrate the winners with an event at the public library.

“We’re proud of our kids,” said Dan Kehret, their father. “It’s nice to see their talents recognized.”

As the winning entries, Sydney and Lucy’s books have been professionally illustrated and published by the IALF, to be made available as a resource for Iowa classrooms.

“It’s exciting for us because we get to share these books with teachers and students across the state,” said Foss.