Excuses, Excuses! Contest Winners 2023

Excuses, Excuses! Winners 2023 

In the excuse-writing contest, students pulled three random words from a fishbowl and had to incorporate those into excuses for why they were late to school, or why their homework was late. Unsurprisingly, students excelled at the task!

Winner: 10 Points | Words: Gleaming, Chocolate, Mud

I’m sorry I was late; I had to go to the doctor. What happened was my sister replaced all of the handmade chocolate with mud. As my family lifted the gleaming lid of the box, I thought, “Boy, those really are good!” We all raised a lump of “chocolate,” and looked at it in all its glory before putting in our mouths. YUCK! We all gagged and spit out however much we didn’t swallow. And my mom, being the hypochondriac she is, rushed us all to the doctor. The wait time was more than the appointment. We ended up just washing our mouths, brushing vigorously, flossing like it was Fortnite, and throwing away the mud. So, yeah, sorry about being late. Got any chocolate, by chance?   — Amil, 5th, Gold

Second Place: 7 Points | Words: Boba, Bookshelf, Kidnapped

First of all I was on my way to school when this kid came up and asked me what I was drinking. I was drinking the best boba in the world! I told him, “I’m having boba, in your face!” He scowled and suddenly he grabbed my boba and ran away! He kidnapped my boba! I had to do something! I started chasing him. He then ran into a library. I followed him. Anything for boba! He went to the center of the library, and he took multiple books out of the bookshelf! I thought he had been cornered, but he crawled through the bookshelf and of course I followed. The path led outside! I was getting really exhausted, so I stopped to catch my breath. I looked down at my watch; I was thirty minutes late to school! When I looked up, the boba burglar had disappeared! I sadly ran to school, feeling defeated. And that is why I was late to school. R.I.P. boba. ☹ — Diya R., 6th, Gold

Third Place: 5 Points | Words: Birds, Flung, Salad

I was late to school because this morning I decided to eat a salad outside on my porch for breakfast because it was such a nice day! I was eating it when a little bird hopped on my railing and began staring at it intensely. I felt bad for it so I threw it a leaf of lettuce. It flew away and I watched it land on a tree branch and caw. Suddenly a flock of birds came over and practically flung my salad in the air! They clawed and scratched as I fought for my salad, but to no avail. My mom came out and called 911 and that was why I was late. — Piper, 7th, Green