MONTICELLO – A Lawrence County teenager’s creativity wasrewarded recently when she was chosen as the first place winner forgrades 9-12 in the individual category for her State Reading Fairstoryboard.

Kathleen Bass, the 15-year-old daughter of Kirk and Laura Bass,of Monticello, said she entered the contest as a 10th-grade EnglishII assignment and never expected it to go farther.

“I just did it as a project for school,” she said. “I had noidea it would go this far. I just couldn’t believe it.”

The Reading Fair provides students the opportunity to sharetheir favorite fiction book through a storyboard display. The goalof the program is to instill a lifelong love of reading instudents.

Bass, an avid reader, said she chose “The Secret Garden” byFrances Hodgson Burnett for her display because she had recentlyfinished the book and liked the story about a little girl whosurvives a tragedy and finds happiness again through the discoveryof the garden.

“It’s just a classic. I love it,” she said. “After I wonregionals, I read it again. It was even better the secondtime.”