A Cape Coral student won second place in the national GMAC Reading and Writing contest earlier this month.
This year’s contest was the ninth annual HOAR Construction/GMAC Bowl Reading and Writing Program where fifth graders across the southeastern United States participated in the nine-week competition.
Megan Galbreath of Cape Elementary School took second place based on a book analysis she wrote after reading Zach’s Lie by Roland Smith, the story of a boy in the witness protection program.
“She is the only one from Cape Elementary,” said Michael Galbreath, her father and an assistant principal at Trafalgar Middle. “There were a couple more from Florida and Alabama.”
The competition began in September when fifth grade students wrote a 250-word book summary on any book they enjoyed. Galbreath, a reading enthusiast who scored a 5 on the FCAT reading exam, composed a four-page essay on Old Yeller to qualify.
Megan Galbreath is also straight A student and captain of the school’s Book Battle Team. She serves as a Cape Elementary News Anchor and is a competitive Level 7 Gymnast at Southern Starz.
For the GMAC Reading and Writing contest, she finished in the top 10 out of 8,000 other semifinalists.
On Nov. 30 she competed against nine other finalists in Mobile, Ala., using Zach’s Lie to write another book summary. By Dec. 1 the finalists had to submit their summary to a panel of judges.
“They wanted the kids in front of them to write the final to make sure the kids are the ones doing the work,” said Galbreath.
As a second place winner she was awarded a savings bond worth $3,000, a portable DVD player and some other prizes, he said.
The Hoar Construction/GMAC Bowl Reading and Writing Program has donated over $195,000 in savings bonds to fifth grade students since the inception of the contest.