![Christaun Ware is congratulated by Great Lakes Theater's Lynn Robert Berg dressed as "Scrooge" [Great Lakes Theater]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d126932/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2008+0+0/resize/840x562!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2F17%2FGLxmascarol.jpg)
Christmas is days away and holiday shows are plentiful in and around Northeast Ohio.
One of the longest standing traditions is the Great Lakes Theater production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," which the company has staged since 1988 in Cleveland's Playhouse Square.
Lynn Robert Berg as "Scrooge" in Great Lakes Theater's "A Christmas Carol" [Roger Mastroianni]
Over that same three-decade span, Great Lakes also has invited Cleveland middle school students to write their own stories based on Dickens' classic for the annual "A Christmas Carol Writing Contest."
Each year, six Cleveland Metropolitan School District students win the grand prize for their original stories inspired by the well-known story of Ebenezer Scrooge.
2019 winners: Darnasia Wilson, Tianna Triggs, Christaun Ware, ideastream's Mike McIntyre, Sakai Dork, Lily Pennington and Lana Keosingharath [ideastream]
Read this year's winning stories in their entirety
This year's winners get the ideastream spotlight during "The Sound of Ideas," as host Mike McIntyre speaks with the students about their winning stories.
The stars of Great Lakes' "A Christmas Carol" production add to the holiday spirit by reading the students' stories as mini-radio dramas.
Leilani Barrett, David Hansen, ideastream's Mike McIntyre, Laura Welsh Berg and Lynn Robert Berg [ideastream]
The stories take the form of a news report, a thank you letter, and a poem among others.
2019 Winners of the Great Lakes Theater's "A Christmas Carol Writing Contest":
Tianna Triggs, 8th grade Riverside School "Stories Left Untold"
Tianna Triggs with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Darnasia Wilson, 7th grade Douglas MacArthur Girls' Leadership Academy "Jessi's Life"
Darnasia Wilson with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Lily Pennington, 6th grader Newton D. Baker School of Arts "Breaking Scrooge Alert"
Lily Pennington with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Lana Keosingharath, 8th grade Douglas MacArthur Girls' Leadership Academy "Lily's Story"
Lana Keosingharath with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Sakai Dork, 7th grade Robinson G. Jones School "Shiloh's Story"
Sakai Dork with ideastream's Mike McIntyre
Christaun Ware, 6th grade Walton Pre K-8 School "Dear Ghosts of Christmas Present, Past and Yet to Come"
Christaun Ware with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
