The Whitehall Ledger - Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

A Whitehall Middle School student has been selected as a top ten finisher in a statewide essay contest. Eighth-grader Chloe Brown recently received the news of placing in a Department of Justice Violence Prevention writing competition.

Brown will be traveling to Helena in early May to be recognized at the State Capital and a special ceremony at Carroll College. She will also find out if she wins the first prize award that comes with a trip to Washington D.C. for the national competition.

Brown said she was very happy, but also surprised to hear she finished in the top 10.

In the contest, Brown had several prompts in her materials, and split her essay into three different categories. Following the introduction, Brown discussed the type of violence she has witness or experienced, violence at school, and how to help spread the message of violence prevention.

Brown said that while she does not personally experience violence at school, she does witness it occasionally, usually with an older kid doing it to a younger one.

While she really enjoys writing, Brown said she had never written in a competition like this before. She found out about the contest through her English teacher and mom Rita Brown. Chloe said it is different to have her mom as a teacher because the expectations are very high, but smiled while she said her mom was both proud and happy with her essay placing.

Chloe’s father is Dwayne Brown.