On June 2, Secretary of State Ken Bennett recognized Annika Christensen, a sixth-grader at Summit School of Ahwatukee, as Arizona's second-place winner in grades fourth through sixth in a writing competition.
Christensen was one of 70,000 young writers across the country to participate in this year's contest.
The state contest, which is part of a nationwide program known as Letters About Literature, asked students to write a reflective letter to an author, living or dead, expressing how the author's work affected them as a reader. Students were urged to consider how the work changed their view of the world and what it taught them about themselves that they did not realize prior to reading the book.
Christensen wrote a letter to Theodore Geisel, known to all as Dr. Seuss, reflecting on how his book, "Oh the Places You'll Go," gave her the motivation to try new things and caused her to reflect on choices she had made.
