CEI is extremely happy to announce the results of our Eighth Annual Creative Writing Contest. To participate in the contest, ELS students submitted stories using words from any of their lessons, and MLS students wrote story problems or puzzlers. Parents and teachers may help students with spelling and grammar, but students must come up with the ideas and complete the work themselves.

Since November, we have been encouraging participation among K-12 students in CEI labs across the country. We have even persuaded the facilitators to show off their talents. You can imagine our excitement when the February contest deadline brought hundreds of original works by regular education, special education and ESL/ESOL students and their facilitators!

Once CEI received the entries, a group of certified educators read and reviewed each story. The group was amazed at the students' vivid imaginations and impressed by those who retold actual events. Basing their decisions on originality, creativity and use of lesson words, these educators gave out more than 100 awards and certificates of recognition*!

CEI would like to congratulate all of the students and facilitators who entered the contest. We appreciate all of your hard work, and we thoroughly enjoy seeing the results of it.