Local seventh grader named best poet in her grade in country

Seventh-grader Aurelyn Van Kirk felt "iffy" about applying for the creative writing program at Charleston County School of the Arts.

She liked to write, but she didn't do it in her spare time. That's changed since she enrolled in the county's flagship arts magnet school, and she's producing some of the country's best student writing.

Van Kirk received the best-in-grade honor award for her poetry submission in one of the nation's most prestigious contests for student writers, the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition.

"I didn't know how writing every day would be, but I really like it now," she said. "It comes to me very easily, and it's a good way to express myself."

She's one of two students in the state to win best-in-grade awards; the other, senior Sarah Rhu, won hers in the essay/personal memoir category.

Read more in tomorrow's Post and Courier, and get the latest education news by following @Diette on Twitter or go to www.facebook.com/diettecourrege.