Stephens County youth bring home wins from TomeCom 2024

Several Stephens County youth brought home wins following Tallulah Falls School’s TomeCom 2024.

TomeCom, hosted annually by Tome Society, a nonprofit literacy organization based in Georgia, is a day of concurrent sessions based on all facets of literacy for students in grades 2-12. Session topics include reading, writing, technology, engineering, art, music, and more. Authors from across the country visit with and teach students at the conference.

The theme of this year’s conference, hosted on March 12,   was “Brave on Purpose.”  Students attended seminars with authors of their choice, created bookmarks and book art, purchased books, and attended author book signings. Students were starstruck listening to keynote speaker Jennifer Nielsen, a popular historical fiction author whose books, including “Lines of Courage,” are in libraries and bookstores nationwide. Other participating authors included Alexandra Diaz, the author of “Santiago’s Road Home,” Dave Reardon, the author of “The Deep Enders,” and Caroline George, the author of  “The Summer We Forgot.” 

Several Tallulah Falls School students won awards for projects submitted to the Tome Society Competitions. 

Upper school students Raegan Duncan of Martin and Lizzy Wanner of Toccoa placed first in Current Issues Portfolio. 

Middle school students Betsy Orr of Toccoa placed first in Like/Try/Why Social Media, Catherine Harris and Emma Ivester, both from Toccoa, placed first in Library Video Commercial, Catherine Harris also placed second in Book Flyer

Other Upper school winners included Caroline Smith of Cleveland, who placed first in Fan Fiction and third place in Book Talk, and Emily Cai of Cleveland and Lily Gaglio of Lakemont, who placed third in Infographic. 

Other Middle School winners included Derartu Kohler of Demorest, who placed second in Theme Essay, and Quinlan Flanders of Sautee, who placed third in Fan Art and Book Trailer. 

Tome Honor Society inductees include TJ Cox of Cornelia, Raegan Duncan, Becca Heyworth of Greenville, SC, Caroline Smith, and Lizzy Wanner. 

Students also enjoyed bidding on gift baskets in a raffle and sharing the love of reading and writing with students, teachers, and authors.

A full list of winners is available at http://www.tomesociety.org/blog.