A Vicksburg Catholic School student has won national acclaim for a poem inspired by her dancing shoes.

Anna Fletcher, the daughter of Brad and Liz Fletcher, placed in the top 10 of her age group — fourth to sixth grades — in a national poetry contest during her sixth-grade year at St. Francis Xavier Elementary — a first for the school in the contest.

Anna, now a seventh-grader at St. Aloysius High School, wrote about what she knew best, her dancing shoes, for the contest sponsored by Creative Communication, a Utah company with an emphasis on advancing students’ writing skills.

“I was thinking of my dance teacher, Miss Valerie,” Anna, 12, said. “I just got it from all the things I always do.”

“Miss Valerie’s” motivational words inspired the first verse of Anna’s three-verse poem about her ballet, tap and jazz shoes. Anna was also encouraged by her mother, who is the sixth-grade reading and language arts teacher at St. Francis.

Fletcher has been submitting her students’ poetry, as part of their writing curriculum, in the Creative Communication contest for the past five years, and 2009 produced the first national top 10 placement.

“We talk about poetry, we read different poetry books and I show them different poetry,” said Fletcher. “You find out a lot about kids when they write. We do journal writing in the classroom, and it’s good that they get their writing published.”

This year, Fletcher submitted entries by 50 students; 34 placed in the southern region.

In the spring, Fletcher also submitted her students’ poetry in the Friends of the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library’s 27th Annual Creative Writing Contest, in which five of her students, including Anna, placed in the fifth- and sixth-grade poetry category.

Anna’s “Dancing Shoes,” along with poetry by her 33 classmates who placed in the Southern region, will be published in an anthology that is available for purchase through the Creative Communications Web site, www.poeticpower.com.

Anna will receive the anthology, recognition in the book and a $50 savings bond.

As for writing, Anna says she’ll continue, especially in her journal. In her free time, her hobbies include cheer squad and basketball.

The poetry and essay contest was open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The top 10 are chosen nationally in each grade category — K-third, fourth-sixth, seventh-ninth and 10th-12th for poetry; and third-sixth, seventh-ninth and 10th-12th for essay.