Eleven-year-old Gabi Curry loves to write. "Sometimes I like to write goofy stuff, sometimes poetry," said the bubbly fifth-grader who attends Cherry Creek's Challenge School.

She also writes to express her feelings, which she did in a story she titled 'The Day I Came Home' about the day she learned her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Last fall that story ran on the front page of the Colorado Kids section in the Denver Post. On May 19, Curry's story received first place honors in the Best Children's Writing category at the Young Reader Seminar, sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

"There were many entries from around the United States, so this is a great honor," said Jill Armstrong, Youth Content Editor for the Post-News Educational Services.

Armstrong presented Curry with her award during a ceremony at her school on May 28, as her classmates, brother, parents and grandparents cheered and clapped. "She's a natural writer," said her father, Rich Curry.

Curry will put her writing talents to good use this summer, covering the Democratic National Convention as one of four credentialed student journalists for the Denver Newspaper Agency. "It's going to be fun!" Curry said.

The story about Curry's mother has a happy ending. Stacy Curry, a third-grade teacher at Red Hawk Ridge Elementary, is a cancer survivor after undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

Read Curry's award-winning story here.