2023 Winners

Elementary School Winners

Grade 3 Fiction

1^st Prize	Mya Roberto	The Fairy Tale	Davenport Ridge
2^nd Prize	Nina Pizzarello	Frank and Fred and the Monster Sleepover	Springdale
3^rd Prize	Maite Pardo Balda	Saskya’s Story	Mater Salvatoris
Honorable Mention	Samuel Block	Dragon vs. Sharks	Davenport Ridge

Grade 3 Nonfiction

1^st Prize	Elan Nayini	Aquarium Encounters	BCHA
2^nd Prize	Maytal Moreen	Moon	BCHA
3^rd Prize	Faith Fiorello	I Have a Sport	Mater Salvatoris
Honorable Mention	Julia Teitelbaum	How to Take Care of Your New Dog	BCHA

Grade 3 Poetry

1^st Prize	Idan Kochavi	Falcons	BCHA
2^nd Prize	Rebecca Ostroff	Purple	BCHA
3^rd Prize	Gabriel Zizmor	Dangerous Fire	BCHA
Honorable Mention	Joseph Gilboa	Winter	BCHA
Honorable Mention	Grace Angel	Leaf	BCHA

Grade 4 Fiction

1^st Prize	Ava Calicchio	Merland	Strawberry Hill School
2^nd Prize	Yohan Joseph	Teamwork is Best	The Catholic Academy of Stamford
3^rd Prize	Abigail Lyden	The Adventures of Nugget	Strawberry Hill School
Honorable Mention	Eva Marie McRoskey	The Magic Notebook	Mater Salvatoris

Grade 4 Nonfiction

1^st Prize

Sally Hennesey

Herbert the Snail

Mater Salvatoris

Grade 4 Poetry

1^st Prize	Natan Warmflash	The Baseball	BCHA
2^nd Prize	Eli Weisser	The Beach	BCHA
3^rd Prize	Alex Folkinshteyn	A Night	BCHA

Grade 5 Fiction

1^st Prize	Yael Rosenfeld	Chilly Frights	BCHA
2^nd Prize	Preston Munier	The ALL STAR Game	Davenport Ridge
3^rd Prize	Sophie Brand	Oh No! Our Snowman!	BCHA
Honorable Mention	Kyle Curry	The Painting	Davenport Ridge

Grade 5 Nonfiction

1^st Prize	Cody Meek	The Grind	Northeast Elementary
2^nd Prize	Emma Basta	The Big Heart Attack	Davenport Ridge
3^rd Prize	Trent Geisler	Life With My Special Brother	Davenport Ridge
Honorable Mention	Claire Quintong	My First Loss	Davenport Ridge

Grade 5 Poetry

1^st Prize	Ameyaa Agrawel	A Life of Gratitude	Westover Magnet
2^nd Prize	Piper Mills	Justice	Davenport Ridge
3^rd Prize	Maximillian Milewski	Baseball Dream	Davenport Ridge
Honorable Mention	Mason Last	The Worst Food Group of All	Davenport Ridge

Middle School Winners

Grade 6 Fiction

1^st Prize	Rudrh Nair	The Life Around Me	Turn of River
2^nd Prize	Naa Ayele Armah	Afia, the Prince and the Flower	Strawberry Hill School
3^rd Prize	Sofia Evanko	Kayla and the Kiwi	Strawberry Hill School
Honorable Mention	Gargi Bagwe	The Legend of the Barn	Strawberry Hill School

Grade 6 Nonfiction

1^st Prize	Victoria Angel	Loneliness	BCHA
2^nd Prize	Mia Tripolitsiotis	A New Achievement	Rogers International
3^rd Prize	Angela Ching	Algophobia and the Inevitable	Rogers International
Honorable Mention	Giana Forte	The Day I First Tumbled Into the World	Rogers International

Grade 6 Poetry

1^st Prize	Victoria Angel	Autumn the Thief	BCHA
2^nd Prize	Maggie Mosenkis	Ode to Paris	BCHA
3^rd Prize	Elana Kohl	Ode to Math	BCHA
Honorable Mention	Avigayil Chavkin	Ode to Winter	BCHA

Grade 7-8 Fiction

1^st Prize	Prisha Jilhewar	The Scholar Jacket	Strawberry Hill School
2^nd Prize	Rohan Arun	The Tale of Captain Walters	Strawberry Hill School
2^nd Prize	Paula Chavez Roig	Popular	Strawberry Hill School
3^rd Prize	Ritaj Nouh	Dragonkind’s Sanctuary	Turn of River
Honorable Mention	Medha Ganti	The Dream that Changed Me	Strawberry Hill School

Grade 7-8 Nonfiction

1^st Prize

Aarna Agrawal

When I Grow up

Dolan Middle School

Grade 7-8 Poetry

1^st Prize	Ritaj Nouh	Life’s Wonders	Turn of River
2^nd Prize	Layla Molina	I Hear	Strawberry Hill School
3^rd Prize	Emma Gordon	April 25, 2010	BCHA
Honorable Mention	Rhea Sadhu	Souls	Strawberry Hill School

High School Winners

Grade 9-10 Fiction

1^st Prize	Mia Garcia	A Blip in Time	Westhill High School
2^nd Prize	Cooper Toland	Never Change	Stamford High School
3^rd Prize	Ruby Jiminez	My Reflection: A Tale of Insecurities	Westhill High School
Honorable Mention	Saoirse Zucker-Malone	The Robotic Dog	King School

Grade 9-10 Nonfiction

1^st Prize	Isha Kotha	Panic	Stamford High School
2^nd Prize	Ana Hernandez	Dating a Latina-From a Latina	Stamford High School
3^rd Prize	Zahra Fadil	Bikini Kill and the Rocker Chick Revolution	Stamford High School

Grade 9-10 Poetry

1^st Prize	Nabeeha Nafey	The Lowest High	Stamford High School
2^nd Prize	Jane McNamara	For Fathers with Daughters	Stamford High School
3^rd Prize	Sreeram Vemulapalli	Speed	AITE
Honorable Mention	Isha Kotha	Boom!	Stamford High School

Grade 11-12 Fiction

1^st Prize	Sarah Barry	What Happened to the Words?	AITE
2^nd Prize	Alicja Liszka	Heredity	AITE
3^rd Prize	Kristina DeLelle	The Woods	Westhill High School
Honorable Mention	Dharana Alilaikannan	Silver	Westhill High School

Grade 11-12 Nonfiction

1^st Prize	Janiya Smith	The Boy Who Held the Door	Stamford High School
2^nd Prize	Ella Leferman	On Compassion	AITE
3^rd Prize	Keira Lubliner	Art as Political Protest and Expression	Stamford High School

Grade 11-12 Poetry

1^st Prize	Luke Conzo	Wistful Evenings	J.M.Wright Technical
2^nd Prize	Giovanni Nieves	Wrinkled	AITE
3^rd Prize	Harry Cohen	The Profound Poem	BCHA
Honorable Mention	Rosie Dumarsais	The Cost of Being Right	Stamford High School
Honorable Mention	Clementine Davis	YOUR THORNS BLED ME DRY	AITE
Honorable Mention	Natalia Sierra-Vettorazzi	When I die I want to become a tree	AITE

Elementary School Winners (Grades 3-5)

Middle School Winners (Grades 6-8)

High School Winners (Grades 9-12)

Entrance Guidelines

Eligibility

Students in grades 3-12 who live in or attend school in Stamford.

Submissions

Each student may submit only one entry per category.
Each student may submit entries in two categories only.

Originality

Entries must be original work of one individual author.

Length

Fiction entries limited to 1500 words.
Non-fiction limited to 1500 words.
Poetry limited to two pages.
Entries that exceed the limit will not be submitted to the judges.

Format

Entries must be in English, typed, single-spaced, using a simple 10-point font.
NO color text.
NO illustrations.
NO staples.
Word docs only.

Procedure

Entry form must be attached to the online submission form.
Only Word docs will be accepted.
Please use the name of your entry as the name of your Word doc.
A separate entry form is required for each submission.

Deadline

All entries must be submitted no later than February 10, 2023.

Winners will be notified.

Judging Guidelines

Criteria

There may be four winners in each category: First, second, third place, and one honorable mention.

Creativity (50%)

Insightful content based on personal experience and/or issues of personal interest. Originality and appropriateness of topic are essential.

Structure (25%)

Organization: Clarity of thought, clear focus, coherent expression, development of theme (opening, development, closing).
Fiction: Present and resolve conflict or problem affecting characters.
Non-Fiction: Logical development with supporting arguments or examples.
Poetry: Indicate understanding of forma and structure, and demonstrate command of the elements of poetry.

Technique (25%)

Accuracy in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Ability to use punctuation conventionally or for effect. Language appropriate to subject and audience. Proper use of vocabulary - appropriate choice of words. Variety of sentence structure. Presentation should be neat, easy to follow, easy to read, with clear, clean margins.

Submission Form

Entire form must be completed to qualify.

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