TFS Students shine at TomeCon 2023 with Multiple State-Level Wins
At TomeCon 2023, held on March 14 at the University of North Georgia Gainesville Campus, students from Tallulah Falls School (TFS) had an incredible opportunity to participate in various activities that celebrated their love of reading and writing, reports Sonya M. Smith, Executive Director for Advancement at TFS. “This year’s conference theme was ‘Choose to Shine,’ and we certainly experienced all things bookish,” said seventh-grade English teacher and Junior Tome advisor Kim McClurg. “Students attended seminars of their choice with authors, created watercolor bookmarks, heard about local history, and much more!” The day’s highlight was the awards ceremony, where several TFS students won awards at the state level. Awards are as follows:
Upper School
- Caroline Smith of Cleveland (1st place in Fan Fiction; 3rd place in Poetry)
- Raegan Duncan of Martin and Lizzy Wanner of Toccoa (1st place in Current Issues
Portfolio)
Middle School
- Megan Prince of Rabun Gap (1st place in Blog; 1st place in Like/Try/Why Social Media;
2nd place in Book Talk)
- Derartu Kohler of Demorest (1st place in Theme Essay)
- Catherine Harris of Toccoa (2nd place in Character Letter to Author)
- Gracie Gunter of Cornelia (3rd place in Book Trailer)
- Christian David of Cleveland (3rd place in Book Print Video)
TomeCon is hosted annually by Tome Society, a nonprofit literacy organization based in Georgia. According to the website, Tome Society provides “a diverse menu of digital student competitions; an annual book award list of new, PG, fun-to-read children’s and young adult literature titles; student book club activities; curriculum materials for educators; and the TomeCon annual conference for both students and educators. All activities promote self-esteem, leadership skills, character ethics, and nurture critical thinking, creativity, and imagination in the digital age.”