Power of the Pen

By: BHS News Staff

January 31, 2023

This past Saturday, January 21, Brooklyn’s Power of the Pen had a writing competition at Columbia Middle School. It was their first district competition in-person, as previous competitions were virtual.

In all of the Power of the Pen competitions, there are three levels of tournaments: District, Regional, and State. This program has been in the Brooklyn City School District for eight years, and in six of the eight years, the Hurricanes have had a State qualifier. 

Since the students were in-person this year, they were able to meet other writers from the numerous schools competing.

During the pandemic, students did not travel to other schools to compete. Everything was virtual and had to be typed online. This year, they were able to write on carbon paper.

Brooklyn funds all aspects of Power of the Pen, and this is unique because students usually have to pay for the extra expenses such as team t-shirts that the students design. 

The Power of the Pen team practices every Wednesday after school, and this routine has assisted in their long-term success..

Mrs. Kathleen Mack, 8th grade coach, loves coaching these young writers: “Power of the pen is a wonderful way for our Brooklyn students to engage in creative writing. It also offers our students the opportunity to meet students from other grades. It’s more outside of an academic setting.”

Freshman Malak Chafki, one of our BHS News Staff members, was a former member of the team, and she was fortunate to reach the state tournament.

“Being able to write stories based on prompts kind of gives you a creative way of starting your story. Writing is really important for other subjects, and even though it’s creative writing, it’s helped. I think it’s easier now to write theses and essays because you have something to start with. It’s made journalism class a lot easier to write these articles, too. What helps the writing is the ability to read. I think that it’s important to read a lot of books to get a better vocabulary. Also, learn creative ways of thinking. Having cultural backgrounds helps you succeed because you can write about those experiences,” stated Chafki.

This is a great program, and each year, more and more students come out for it. If you can write, Power of the Pen is for you.

Good luck to the Hurricanes’ Power of the Pen regional qualifiers.

{To stay updated with the Brooklyn City School District, make sure to click here weekly.}