Congratulations to the 2018 Student Writing Contest Winners!

Please join NJCTE in congratulating the winners of the 2018 High School and Middle School Student Writing contests! The winners will receive their awards at a reception on April 24, 4:30pm-5:30pm, at Union Catholic High School.

2018 Middle School Writing Contest Winner:
Kelly Xu, “Outside My Window,” Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School
Kristine Shurina, teacher

2018 High School Writing Contest Medal Winners:

Poetry
Winner’s Name	School Name	Sponsoring Teacher	Title of Work	Award
Madeleine Song	Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest	Marisa Januzzi	“Aquarius”	Gold
Isabella Gonzalez	Livingston High School	Susan Rothbard	“The Weight”	Silver
Eloisa Sablan	Livingston High School	Susan Rothbard	“An Almost Something: Lovefool”	Silver
Maressa Park	Mary Help of Christians Academy	Elizabeth Evans	“Beautiful.”	Bronze
Stephanie Shue	Bergen County Academies	Richard Weems	“Breathe”	Bronze
Madison Wade	Livingston High School	Amanda Buyes	“Don’t Ask Why, Ask Why Not”	Bronze
Essay
Winner’s Name	School Name	Sponsoring Teacher	Title of Work	Award
Swathi Kella	Ridgewood High School	Patricia Hans	“Family Recipe: How to Make an Indian Thanksgiving Dinner”	Gold
Gillian Parker	Northern Highlands Regional High School	Brian Belluzzi	“Communion Cake and Christmas Break”	Gold
Elyse Genrich	Morristown High School	Allison Janosy	“Childlike Curiosity”	Silver
Amber Leung	Pascack Hills High School	Edward Sandt	“Rice Cakes can Never be Uncrustables – And That’s Okay”	Silver
Kathleen Parkhurst	Northern Highlands Regional High School	Philip Leib	“Handstand”	Silver
Lauren Hirschmann	Livingston High School	Jessica Rivchin	“When Our Home Became Hers”	Bronze
Sarah Lackey	Bergen County Academies	Richard Weems	“A Tiger in Chinatown”	Bronze
Short Story
Winner’s Name	School Name	Sponsoring Teacher	Title of Work	Award
Kushal Dhungana	Livingston High School	Mary Brancaccio	“Lost in Thought”	Gold
Hee Jae Jung	Tenafly High School	Lauren Malanka	“Whole Again”	Silver
Vani Shankar	Bergen County Academies	David Wilson	“Tears of Yesterday”	Silver
Camila Fang	Wardlaw Hartridge School	Stephanie Cohen	“The Nature of Resentment”	Bronze
Su Min Kim	Bergen County Academies	Richard Weems	“To Us, He Is Eliah”	Bronze

2018 High School Writing Contest Certificate of Merit Winners:

Winner’s Name	School Name	Sponsoring Teacher	Title of Work	Genre
Helaina Parejo	Cinnaminson High School	Amy O’Hearn	“Jenkins Road”	Short Story
Emma Cooke	Immaculate Heart Academy	Sue Kenney	“Unrequited”	Poetry
Cedrick Cantave	Irvington High School	Sarah Caddle	“Brooklyn”	Poetry
Kaja Owens	Kinnelon High School	John Penola	“In the Straights”	Short Story
Aidan Carter	Madison High School	Jason Ellrott	“Haze”	Short Story
Naima Troutt	Montclair High School	Beryl Steinbach	“Life Without Orange”	Short Story
Smruthi Sathya	Morris County School of Technology	Emily Bohn-Drake	“Never Again”	Poetry
Simone Dimatteo	Princeton Day School	Tom Quigley	“Junk”	Poetry
Deavihan Scott	Rutgers Preparatory School	Eireann Corrigan	“Ice Cream”	Poetry
Sydney Larino	The Calais School	Cynthia Polles	“Challenges Led to Dreams from the Heart”	Personal Essay
Julia Ozgar	Union Catholic Regional High School	John Rotondo	“What We Do at Night”	Short Story
Alyssa Kabezian	Vernon Township High School	Kathy Weyant	“The Rose	Poetry
Celia Murphy-Braunstein	West Orange High School	Janine Sullivan	“A Life in Different Eyes”	Short Story

The prompt for the Personal Essay Contest was:
Write a personal essay or narrative about an experience of race, ethnicity, class, religion or gender enlightenment that was significant for you.

We would like you to steer away from general to more personal experiences and observations.  For example, you may choose to write about particular toys that were or were not given to you because of your gender, the expectations of important individuals in your life, decisions about where to sit in the cafeteria or what classes to take, conflicts over what information to share or not share in school, decisions about where to go and if you should go to college; the possibilities are wide ranging.

This prompt may bring to your attention a preconception previously unnamed, but it may also enable you to speak about your strengths and joys, about what unites us instead of what divides us.

Check the NJCTE website for details about the 2019 writing contests!

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English