Kelly Noel Waldorf and Hannah Larson. Poetry contest winners.
Serving as judge of essays for the Cherokee County Poetry and Essay Contest held each year for high school students in Cherokee County, North Carolina was and is always an honor. I read and re-read the work of these students and found it difficult to choose only three winners.
Cliff Owl III, in the white shirt in the photo, was my choice for first place. His personal essay, Walking the Line of the Reservation, expresses deep insight into his feelings of guilt, stygma, and his reconciliation of these feelings as he graduates from Murphy High School. With a small enrollment of people from his father's Cherokee Indian heritage Cliff often felt he should be at Cherokee High School on the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee where his relatives live and his family once lived. I was not surprised when Cliff said he was going to college at Stamford University.His writing showed a surprising maturity for such a young man.
Second and third place essay winners responded to an assignment in class and both wrote entirely different views on the subject of a Learning Experience.
First place Poetry winner was Hannah Larsen. This was her second time to win this contest in her four years of high school
Judging the Poetry contest was Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, our Netwest Rep in South Carolina.
Our congratulations to all the winners. This contest is sponsored each year by the local community, and the Cherokee Scout Newspaper.
Paul Donovan, a long time supporter of writers in his community, organizes the contest which awards monetary prizes. Netwest donates an award each year.
Titles of winning essays are:
First Place :Walking the Line of the Reservation
Second Place :A Powerful Learning Experience
Third Place :A Learning Experience
Titles of winning essays are:
First Place :Walking the Line of the Reservation
Second Place :A Powerful Learning Experience
Third Place :A Learning Experience
Congratulations to all. I would love to read their entries. Is there a place they can be found on the internet? If not, maybe they could be published here, perhaps one at a time, depending on their length.
ReplyDeleteI'm familiar with Hannah. Her father, Dr. Jeff Larsen of Murphy, is our physician. He is a talented photographer and musician.
Sam Hoffer
I'm very proud of all the students who won in the creative writing contest in Cherokee County. Congratulations, students!!! The students in Cherokee County are very special to me since I'm a retired teacher from the Cherokee County Board of Education.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to publish all the winning work. I have Cliff Owl's permission to publish his essay and I will as soon as I can find it among my piles of stuff on my desk.
ReplyDeleteIf any of the winners will send a copy of their poem or essay to writerlady21@yahoo.com and give me permission to post it on this blog, I'd love to do so.