Parkland College

Story Shop

In 2007, the Parkland College relaunched a writing contest through the P-20 Initiative for 7th and 8th grade students in District 505. 

Story Shop originated in 1975 as a writing contest for Kindergarten through 5th grade and was a successful initiative for 18 years, closing in 1993.  While the current contest is geared more toward junior high level students, the philosophy of the contest remains the same -- encouraging the value and practice of good writing.

Additional benefits of the contest include exposure to the college and its professors, community outreach to area schools, teachers, students and families.  It is also a good service learning opportunity for Parkland students.

The Story Shop contest is unique in that there are no winners or losers as every student receives personalized feedback from a Parkland faculty member on their story and a certificate of participation.  Stories of merit are chosen to be recognized at an awards ceremony held in the spring and are published in the annual Story Shop book. 

We have been fortunate to have nationally-known authors be keynote speakers at our awards ceremony, such as Richard Peck, Rachel Vail, Ben Mikaelsen and Marlene Targ Brill.

Since 2007, Story Shop has had 16 different schools participate with over 800 story submissions in the three years.