Earlier this month, we celebrated the winners of the Mays Writing Contest, the school’s annual fiction-writing competition, where students in grades 1-12 submit creative writing stories. Submitting to the contest encourages students to explore creative writing, challenge themselves, and try something different and possibly outside their comfort zone.
This year, the student committee created a prompt inspired by our all-school summer read The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. The book follows four unlikely friends who go on an adventure of learning together.
Students were inspired by a significant quote from the book: “Everyone is a bit scared, but we are less scared together.” The prompt asked students to write a fictional story about an unlikely friendship where the friends overcome a conflict together. Lower, Middle, and Upper School students produced beautiful stories exploring the power of friendship and community, including stories about a friendship between lollipops and broccoli and ghosts who become human after making friends. The winning stories are compiled into Mays Magazine, a showcase of student writers and artists, designed by the student committee.
The annual contest is sponsored by the Mays family. We appreciate their continued support of the writing contest and encouraging our students to pursue creative thinking and storytelling.
Winners and Honorable Mentions:
First Grade
Winner - “The LOLEPOP Broc” by Walks Ruhland
Honorable Mentions - “Yay Friends” by Foster Jackson and “Lucy and Strawberry” by Catherine Crump
Second Grade
Winner - “Best Friends” by Lola Fienup
Honorable Mentions - “Adelaide’s Home” by Adelaide Denman and “Cute Friend” by Bella Cheng
Third Grade
Winner - “Ghost” by Louise Jacobs
Honorable Mentions - “The Chilly Pepper and the Pencil” by Penny Cardenas and “French Person with a Cat” by Heloise Humphreys
Fourth Grade
Winner - “Burnt” by Meera Satpute
Honorable Mentions - “Hello, USA” by Evelyn Song and “Crow’s Peak” by Francis Holman
Fifth Grade
Winner - “Emmy and Riley” by Malone Chapman
Honorable Mentions - “The Girls and the Witch’s Daughter” by Michelle Tenent and “The Return” by Alli Carner
Sixth Grade
Winner - “Alone, but Together” by Kylin Menard
Honorable Mentions - “The Frog and the Snake” by Parsons Gray and “Opposites Attract” by Anika Kharbanda
Seventh Grade
Winner - “The Figure” by Mayra Arshad
Honorable Mentions - “The Friendship That Was Never Meant To Be” by Julia Hulbert and “Solving a Crime, With Extra Cheese” Mary Kirksey Griffin
Eighth Grade
Winner - “Light and Dark” by Brooke Brown
Honorable Mentions - “Who I Am” by Gemma Ferguson and “Pretty Pink Rose” by Liv Leschak
Ninth Grade
Winner - “Fantastic Mr. Fox” by Stella Pitzer
Honorable Mentions - “Change” by Addie Hook and “A Lonely Ghost” by Lilly Coggin
Tenth Grade
Winner - “There was no longer a sign” by Kate Wolfkill
Honorable Mentions - “The Silent Friendship” by Claudia Ribeiro and “Angel from above” by Natalie Smith
Eleventh Grade
Winner - “In the Shadow of the Sun” by Katie Hill
Honorable Mentions - “Two Children Drinking Tea” by Lily Karnes and “Detective Breakfast” by Ellis Rougeou
Twelfth Grade
Winner - “Silence” by Aislinn Choo
Honorable Mentions - Untitled by Callie Wittmann and “A Rainstorm” by Charlie LaMountain
- All-School
- Lower School
- Middle School
- Upper School