The Madison Central School District is pleased to announce that sixth grader Kenleigh Winterton has been selected as a featured writer in the 2024 REV Theatre Company Echoes program.
Winterton was recognized for her submission, a short story entitled “The Winter I Felt Alone.”
The Echoes program is one of the largest writing competitions for Middle School students in the United States. Students across New York State submit approximately 4,000 pieces to the company for consideration each year. From those 4,000 pieces, a few dozen are selected to be incorporated into the script of an original 50 minute production.
The program starts in the Fall with a classroom workshop taught by one of the company’s actors. After that presentation, students have the option to work on a submission independently. Winterton completed her story in October and felt the decision to put an entry together was an easy one.
“Writing is my favorite,” Winterton said. “I just do it for fun.”
The story took approximately one day to write. Once the work is submitted, it becomes part of a lengthy and thorough review process among thousands of talented writers.
Months of review and preparation build the anticipation for an exciting reveal when the event goes on tour. On March 25th, that tour came to Madison and Winterton learned she was one of the winners in front of her peers. She was recognized by the company’s actors on stage and received a plaque and certificate.
For teacher Kelly Diehl, the honor is reflective of the example Kenleigh sets in class each day.
“She’s phenomenal at everything she does,” Diehl said. “She’s a great role model for the other students and an inspiration for her classmates.”
In recent years, getting recognized by REV has been somewhat of a family affair for the Wintertons. Kenleigh’s older sister, Kendra, was the recipient of the Best Overall Submission award for the 2020-21 academic year as an eighth grader. Kendra is now a junior at MCS.