Pupils win essay contest

A primary goal of the contest is to keep the MGuffey legacy alive locally.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two eighth-graders from Volney Rogers Junior High School took the top spots in this year's William Holmes McGuffey Essay Contest in the Youngstown schools.
The competition, sponsored by the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society, is open to all seventh- and eighth-graders in the city schools.
Kyle Staton of North Dunlap Avenue won first place and a $100 savings bond; Vanessa Watson of Cherry Hill Drive took second place and a $50 bond.
The goal of the contest is to foster the legacy of McGuffey who, born in Pennsylvania, grew up on a family farm in Coitsville Township.
He went on to write and publish the first famed McGuffey "Eclectic Readers" in 1836. The reading instructional books soon became a mainstay in public education in America, publishing 122 million copies and still in print today.
Many people are unaware of McGuffey's place in local history, said Richard S. Scarsella, president of the last remaining William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society and a teacher at East Middle School.
McGuffey is widely regarded as the schoolmaster to America.
His family homestead on McGuffey Road was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and, in 1998, the historical society donated the 78-acre site to the Mill Creek MetroParks to serve as the McGuffey Wildlife Preserve.
Contest promotes learning
In addition to preserving the McGuffey legacy, the essay contest is designed to increase writing fluency, improve achievement test scores and teach participants how to research and then write their findings.
The historical society, founded in 1961, is the last remaining chapter in the National Federation of McGuffey Societies. Five McGuffey family relatives remain active members of the local society.
In addition to donating the McGuffey homestead for public use, the society bought the McGuffey Family Archives, which have since been donated to The Butler Institute of American Art.