ARLINGTON — English students of Denise Jackson are learning to express themselves in writing while learning history of the state and winning cash.

Tyler Kjellesvik won $750 in the Washington Association of Generals essay contest. He placed first in his category of seventh- and eighth-graders and second in state, with two fellow students placing second and third in category. Jacob Nolan won second place and Sophia Hitsky won third place.

Kjellesvik won first in his category with a prize of $500, and then he won an extra $250 when his essay was chosen for second place statewide. Second- and third-place prizes were $100, and they will all receive beautiful plaques at the Feb. 23 school board meeting, said Denise Jackson, their English teacher at Post Middle School.

The essay question was, “What do you believe are the three most important dates in Washington state history?”

The sponsoring organization is a general contractor group and the purpose of the contest is to promote literacy, Jackson said.

“This is the third time my students have won prizes in this contest and the second time a student of mine has won second in state in the last five years,” she added.

“I told my students that I was tired of winning a prize here and there, that it’s time we swept the category, and they did it.”

The students agreed that their teacher deserves the award.

“She brought it out of us,” Nolan said.

“Ms. Jackson taught me a lot,” Hitsky said.

They refer to her as a “cliche crusader.”

“She can’t stand it when we write things like ‘as dark as night,’” Nolan said, adding they spent their first week in class learning to use original metaphors and similes.

They also had to do research on the history of the state to identify the most important historical events.

Kjellesvik selected the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the Seattle World’s Fair and the founding of Microsoft.

Nolan argued for the discovery of Lake Chelan (he was born in Wenatchee), the construction of Grand Coulee Dam, and the Great Seattle Fire.

Hitsky made a good case for the founding of Starbucks, the building of the Space Needle, and the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

“All tolled over the past five years my students have won over $2,000 in prize money. It’s a good motivator for students who don’t like to write that much.”

Indeed, two of the young writers admitted they didn’t have any particular interest in writing, although Kjellesvik said he likes to write for fun.

“I want to be a sports writer,” Kjellesvik said.

They all used the Internet for their source of information and Nolan used Google to find the facts.

“And my mom,” he added.

The essays were written and submitted before Christmas and they learned of their awards after the holidays.

“I worked on mine about two weeks,” Nolan said.

Jackson said the contest fits well with the seventh-grade curriculum, which requires students to learn to express themselves in essay form.

“I am extremely proud of my students for their hard work,” Jackson said.

The students now have a head start when they enter their Washington state history class next term and they are already planning their next essay for the Washington Education Association’s contest, “A Teacher to Remember.”

Jackson’s students have also had their poems published in poetry contest sponsored by Creative Communications Inc. and she has had winners in the Prodigies for Peace contest as well.

“I am going to have to expand my Wall of Fame,” she said, noting her goal was to fill the wall before retiring, but has postponed that.

“These contests help our students reach their potential,” Jackson said. “These winners were selected from among thousands of entries. It’s not like there were just a few.”