Greenview Middle School students in the Grade 5 Writing classes instructed by Kim Thomas recently worked on their persuasive writing skills by writing opinion essays in response to the question of whether young athletes should receive awards for participating. Each essay featured an introduction stating their individual opinion followed by several paragraphs supporting their position, including a selected citation of from another author, and finally, a concluding paragraph. The topic of debate generated a high level of interest from the students and is reflected in their detailed explanations. Opinion essays written by students in the honors class can be viewed online. Great job by our 5^th grade students for their hard work and commitment to improving their written communication skills!