ARLINGTON Shayna Shackelfords essay earned her a spot in the sky.
The 13-year-old seventh-grader at Haller Middle School won the Soaring Over Skagit Valley writing contest, making her and her family VIP guests at the Skagit Tulip Fly-In and Air Show April 28.
In her essay, which also earned her a flight to Boeing Field in Seattle and a visit to the Museum of Flight, Shackelford wrote what she thought it might feel like to fly over Skagit Valley.
I wanted to see everything from above, the tulips, the rivers and Mt. Baker, Shackelford said. I wanted to see everyone below, while I was flying up high. I was told I used good descriptive, figurative language, like painting a picture with words.
Shackelfords parents, Brad and Lisa, both work for Boeing, so shes grown up around airplanes, although she admitted to having less experience with flying in smaller aircraft.
I was really excited when I found out Id won, Shackelford said. I was screaming.
Shackelford went up against roughly three-dozen other essay writers in her age group, from Skagit and Arlington.
She tries to tell me shes not that smart, said Shackelfords mother Lisa. Everyones good at something.