Two Penn Hills students won first and second places in the Prime Stage Theatre 2005 creative writing contest.

Erica Stevens and Emma Fraser, both from Linton Middle School, were the award-winning students.

Erica won first place for her story "Alone" and Emma took second with her story "The Diary of Joni Shivich."

The contest theme was "How Will I Survive" and the focus was on imagining what it would be like to be separated from family/friends and taken far away to a strange and dangerous place.

Eligible contestants included middle and high school students in southwestern Pennsyl-vania who have read Theodore Taylor's "The Cay" or the collected poems in "I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1945."

Winners and their families received free tickets to Prime Stage's production of "The Cay."

Prior to the show, all three winning entries were read and displayed in the theatre lobby.

Winners also were awarded prizes including electronics, gift certificates, books and subscriptions to Prime Stage Theatre's 2005-2006 season.