The Write Stuff: Young Pleasantville Writers Honored With Awards
News Article Article pages that do not meet specifications for other Trust Project Type of Work labels and also do not fit within the general news category.
Inspiring young authors to continue writing creatively can be a tall task. For more than a decade, the Pleasantville School District’s middle school and high school student writers have been recognized in writing contests such as the regional and national Scholastic Awards, the Pleasantville High School 11th-grade Writing Contest initiated by local author Joe Wallace 12 years ago and the Pleasantville Middle School eighth-grade Writing Contest.
The Village Bookstore co-sponsors all three competitions and awards $25 to the winning middle school writers.
Together with the students’ parents, teachers and the community, it truly takes a literary-devoted village.
Recently announced winners of Pleasantville High School’s 11th-grade Writing Contest this year are Bronwyn Bruder, Miyako Cornelius, Alexandra Powell, Jillian Kraus, Mia Hoxhaj, Sedge Algiere, Nikian Sauthoff, Alexander Kylander-Kreiner and Rose Collins.
Kylander-Kreiner and Cornelius were recognized by the Scholastic Awards, earning the highest recognition, the Gold Key Award. Cornelius was honored for her short story, “My Fallen Angels,” about physical and emotional abuse.
Kylander-Kreiner authored “The Fermi Paradox,” an essay about the mysteries of the world and the multiverse.
Hoxhaj was also honored by Scholastic for her short story “In Cold Blood,” a murder mystery in a hospital setting.
“I got the inspiration from a few TV shows I was watching and because of my love for science,” Hoxhaj said. “It was fun to create a thriller and to have creative choices and end in a cliffhanger.”
In all, 11 Pleasantville High School students were recognized by Scholastic’s Hudson-to-Housatonic New York State Region, the most in one year from the school. Students Amina Fayaz, Daniel Kauber, Dylan Levine, Claire Mcspedon, Laura Mujica, Fariha Rahman, Emma Selesnick and Erin Weitzman were also named.
Works submitted to Scholastic are judged by a panel of professional novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians, journalists and other literary professionals. This year more than 1,900 works were submitted from across the region.
Wallace, who has individually mentored students for the past 25 years, said that 11th-grade English teacher Leigh Meyer and Principal Joe Palumbo have been passionate about encouraging creative writers. Since much focus in high school is on science, technology, engineering and math courses, Wallace said that creative writing is often de-emphasized.
“My experience working with students is a huge number of them write in middle school either in their journals or stories and poems for themselves. But once they get into high school, they consider writing a child’s toy,” he said.
Wallace runs the high school’s 11th-grade contest and the middle-school’s 8th-grade competition.
“If you’re in the eighth grade and you get positive feedback and reinforcement for your writing, it tells them we think of them as writers,” Wallace said. “What I love about this is how few of those students think of themselves as writers. They were amazed and thrilled to be recognized.”
Hoxhaj, a junior, said she has considered herself a math and science person.
“I’m a decent writer but never thought of myself as a creative writer,” Hoxhaj said. “This contest challenged me to think outside the box.”
Cornelius said she has been writing since first grade, although it’s something she’s never focused on. Having played the violin for 13 years who will pursue a performance degree in college, Cornelius spoke highly of Meyer, her teacher.
“She encouraged me to read a lot and was always available to read my work. She would give me feedback,” Cornelius said. “She pushed me and tells me what I need to change. That really helped me.”
For the past several years The Village Bookstore owner Jennifer Kohn and the store’s previous owners partnered with Wallace to keep students engaged in writing.
“I believe that creative writing is an essential, and too often neglected, part of education,” said Wallace. “We feel that this contest proves that students are hungry to tell their stories. They just need the chance.”
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
