The 4th Annual Quarry Farm Fireplace Contest

The Center for Mark Twain Studies encourages local elementary school teachers to discuss Mark Twain’s legacy in Elmira and the Southern Tier region of New York State.  2nd grade to 6th grade students from local schools are encouraged take part in this writing contest and submit their creative writing stories.  A “local school” is defined as being no more than 25 miles away from Quarry Farm.  Quarry Farm is the home where Mark Twain lived for over twenty consecutive summers and is the place where Twain penned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and many other important texts. The deadline for the stories is June 1, 2021.  Three winners from three different schools will be chosen by the CMTS Staff.  

Information about the Quarry Farm Fireplace Contest, including the writing assignment, writing prompt, and detailed information about how this assignment fits into New York and Pennsylvania Common Core Standards, can be found here.

All the fireplace tiles and a full virtual tour of Quarry Farm can be found at MarkTwainStudies.org.  The virtual tour can be found by clicking here.  The fireplace tiles can be found by clicking here.

Submit all your stories to the Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira College, 1 Park Place, Elmira, NY 14901

A wide range of resources focusing on Mark Twain Studies for teachers and students in the classroom can be found here.