All School Writing Contest

The best essays per class and per grade are read and ranked by the entire English department. The parameters for writing and judging are adjusted per grade level. The ninth graders focus on discovery and story, the tenth graders focus on revision and polish, while the eleventh graders are given an SAT/ACT style prompt. Twelfth grade and post-graduates and encouraged to think about how they will approach the world as global citizens. Students are often invited to share or publish their essays after the results are announced. 

 

Here are the results:

 

Grade 12/ Post-Graduates:

1st place: Sarah Robinson ’20, Runner up: Evan Zorman ’20

 

Grade 11

1st place: Maggie Hodgson ’21, Runner up: Trevor Palmiotto ’21

 

Grade 10

1st place: Jenna Powers ’22, Runner up: Mia Hennum ’22

 

Grade 9

1st place: Alden Ormont ’23, Runner up: Will Noble ’23

 

EIS/ESOL

Emeliano Suarez Amezcua ’23

 

 

Here are the prompts they worked from:

 

Grade 9 

Tell the story of one of your greatest childhood achievements. Consider that this can be anything -- a lead in a school play, a championship game, an important lesson learned, a time you stood up for what’s right. Explain the events that led up to these circumstances and explain what effect this achievement had on who you are today.

 

Grade 10

What Topics Do You Wish You Could Learn About in School? The sky’s the limit. What issues, skills, people, places, problems, events, artistic works or anything else would you like to learn about in a class, and why? Pick one or two to explore in this essay. 

 

Grade 11

In the text Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, Thomas Erlich defines civic engagement as “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” He goes on to explain how “a morally and civically responsible individual recognizes himself or herself as a member of a larger social fabric and therefore considers social problems to be at least partly his or her own; such an individual is willing to see the moral and civic dimensions of issues, to make and justify informed moral and civic judgments, and to take action when appropriate.” 

 

Prompt: Consider whether or not you agree with Erlich’s definition of civic engagement, and if, according to his definition, you are civically engaged. Consider whether or not you believe it is important to be politically and socially engaged why or why not. Please identify a social or political issue that is important enough to you that you either already engage with it, or feel that you should. Tell me a story that illustrates how this issue shapes your understanding of the importance of civic engagement. 

 

Grade 12/PG

What global problem would you want to solve? Why? What kind of actions or sacrifices would you make, or have you made, for a cause you believe in?

 

EIS/ESOL

Our world is facing many serious issues right now.  Select one global issue and explain how a group of people (politicians, scientists, artists, students, etc.) can take responsibility for addressing the issue.