The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County hosted their ninth annual six-word memoir contest. The contest is named after Danielle Scott, a Teen Advisory Board member who passed away from cancer. The library is sponsoring this contest to honor Scott and her love for writing.

Entrants had to be in grades seven to twelve and must either live in or attend a school in Mahoning County. Entries had to be submitted either online or on a standard ‘8 ½ x 11’ paper to any Mahoning County library.  The winner will be awarded a plaque and monetary gift. The contest ran from October 1st to October 31st. 

Previously, the English teachers would inform their classes about the contest and whoever was interested could hand in their entry. This time, however, the PSHS English Department decided that everyone should participate.

According to Mrs. Hurdley, an English teacher at Poland Seminary High School, it was because “it was National Writing Day and [the English department] wanted to celebrate it. We all decided that the six-word memoir contest would be a great way to do that.”

Each ELA teacher put their own spin on the memoirs. Mrs. Hurdley gave her students a theme: the American dream, mainly because she teaches American literature. 

On her whiteboard, she has a few memoirs that stuck out from the rest. Here are some of them:

• I had to google ‘American Dream’
• One day she will save lives
• One country, fifty states, countless opportunities
• Unchain me from these heavy shackles
• Evolving, growing, searching, a lifelong quest