Every year, the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) awards students across the world who hold exceptional talents in writing. These goal of these awards is to highlight honorable works of high school sophomores and juniors and to encourage more students to write creatively. These students from the United States, Canada, the Virgin Islands, and American schools abroad are nominated by English teachers from their school. According to NCTE, schools nominated 680 students this year for the program. This year, three students from THS were honored in the NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing: Kayla Schanzer (’27) and Zoe Dakin (’26) received the Excellent distinction, while Soeun Lee (’27) received the First Class distinction, the highest award in the competition.
The 2025 prompt asked students to explore the power of books to heal readers, ranging from young children to adolescents and adults. The prompt was inspired by Australian writer Sophie Blackall, who expressed the power of books to heal: “there will always be storms of one kind or another, but I will always be buoyed by books— hopeful, encompassing, life-saving books.” Students were accordingly asked to write a piece about how literature can provide emotional support and understanding, in both a personal and worldwide angle.
“My first love with writing was never poetry; it was novel writing. Yet, my submission this year was composed solely of poems. I believe it’s because I kept that time to marinate my words in prose that my writing was able to express itself in poetry,” Soeun Lee, recipient of the First Class Award, said. “I think the mutability in this type of writing is also displayed in its progression. Looking back at the poems I submitted, there are numerous things I would change now that I felt satisfied with just a few months ago.” Lee believes that there is a double-edged nature to writing, which can be fleeting and lasting simultaneously. “It’s ironic how writing can feel impermanent but so permanent at the same time,” she said.
Zoe Dakin, who received an Excellent distinction award, the connection between her two pieces: “I wrote a narrative story that went through my life from when I was very young to high school, and also connected it with a poem, since [the competition] lets you combine two pieces.” Dakin said she connected her message with prose in her piece. “The story focused on my struggle with perfectionism and OCD throughout my life, and I focused a lot on my idea of “3s,” so I had, for example, stanzas with three lines to match that.” Dakin also praised the help of Mr. Whitehead throughout the submission process. “I wouldn’t have ever thought of entering a writing contest if Mr. Whitehead hadn’t elected me to do so, and he inspired me to include poetry in my submission,” she noted.
These honored students will be highlighted on NCTE’s account across various social media platforms, and First Class recipients will be specially featured by state on the official NCTE website.
Though students cannot apply for the award, the English department will be nominating sophomores and juniors again next year.
