PROCTORVILLE — Fairland Middle School’s writing team is heading to the state Power of the Pen competition at the end of this month.

Students are members of Barbara Dinwiddie’s writing class and are chosen for the team from assigned essays written in a 40-minute time frame. Then Dinwiddie selects six students.

This year they were Shanan Ashton, Sarah Warnock, Ellen Hinshaw, Mickayle Booten, Megan Castle and Sara Estep.

The first competition was the district at Marietta College. There Fairland took second place in the team competition with Ashton, Warnock, Hinshaw, Booten and Castle qualifying to go on to the regionals. There the team placed second with the same five students getting recognition.

The students competed against students from 27 schools at the regionals held at Unioto High School in Chillicothe.

The team will now go onto the state competition on May 26 and 27 at the College of Wooster.