Dear Prime Stage, I wanted to thank you for hosting your middle school writing contest.

Our son Luke grew in his confidence and his writing skills have improved because he was motivated to participate in this contest. We had a wonderful time discussing his story idea and development. It was a different experience for Luke than writing for a school assignment. For me, it was a joy to watch and listen to him while he wrote his piece. Luke is hoping to go to CAPA for Creative Writing and would like to be an author someday. Working on this project was the first step for him in learning what he needs to do to make his plan a reality.

We were surprised and thrilled when we received the phone call notifying us that Luke had tied for second place.

The award ceremony was wonderful. We were so excited to hear the other two stories and we were amazed at how different each was from the other. Luke is thrilled to have tickets to next season at Prime Stage and he always has a book wish list, so the Border's gift certificate was a great surprise.

Thanks also for the tickets to The Cay. Luke and I loved the show, your cast was superb and the set and staging were wonderful. We have told several families about the experience and have encouraged them to catch the performances next weekend.

Thanks especially for the work that Rebecca and your group did with the students at Colfax. Luke was engaged and inspired. The work around the holocaust is especially meaningful as Luke's grandfather was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.

I hope that you continue to garner the support from State Farm and other organizations for these relevant and inspiring opportunities for our children.

Suelynn Shiller

READ LUKES WINNING ESSAY