Local student wins Disney writing contest

Zoe Lemieux Despite writing her entry at the last minute, a local student was one of two winners in a major writing contest put on by Disney.

Zoe Lemieux, who will be a freshman at Westlake High School in the fall, won the ninth annual Disney-Jump at the Sun Academic Scholarship contest for grades five through eight.

Students read the novel "Marked by Fire" by Joyce Carol Thomas, the 1983 National Book Award winner. They then wrote the first chapter to a possible sequel.

Zoe found out about the contest from her librarian at Los Cerritos Middle School.

"I heard about it but didn't know if I was going to enter because I didn't know if I'd have time," she said. "I found out about it just two days before the deadline. But my parents convinced me to do it, and I decided to pretty last minute."

Zoe hammered out a threepage chapter, which needed to introduce a new character and keep a character from the original novel. When she received the letter naming her the winner, Zoe said she was shocked.

"I was so excited," Zoe said. "Oh my gosh, I couldn't really even believe I won. It was really special." Christine Vargas of Disney said Zoe "impressed us with her literary force" in her written entry.

She won a $500 scholarship, accepting her award and presenting her essay at the American Library Association convention in Anaheim on July 1. She attended the Coretta Scott King Breakfast.

"It was really nice," Zoe said. "There were many authors and illustrators there. I got to go up and read half of my story, and then they gave me my award and one of those big cardboard checks, which was cool."

She said her mother, who is a poet and an English teacher, introduced her to writing early in her life. But as for the future, she's not sure what path she'll take.

"I enjoy writing," Zoe said. "I'm also interested in physics, so maybe I'll be a physicist. It would also be cool to be a rock star, but I don't know if that's going to happen."