By Staff Reports
Two Branford High School juniors were recently recognized for their outstanding writing, earning the highest designation available from the National Council of Teachers of English in its annual Achievement Awards in Writing contest.
The students, Lilly Geddes and Grace Grammatico, both earned a First Class designation for their work, which was submitted by the BHS English department.
NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing is a school-based writing program established in 1957 to encourage high school students to write and to recognize some of the best student writers in the nation.
Both Geddes and Grammatico were nominated by English teacher Christian “Bing” Miller, who is their teacher in Honors American Literature.
For the contest, the two students submitted different types of writing to the contest. Geddes wrote a first-person essay that called upon the metaphor of the fig tree from Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar to draw comparisons to her own choices that she faces as she’s grown up. By contrast, Grammatico wrote a poem entitled “Somewhere Between Now and Then” that explored with vivid imagery the emotions and experiences associated with her growth into womanhood.
Miller said he was not surprised that both of them were recognized for their efforts.
“All year I’ve seen how insightful and thoughtful the two have been with their writing, no matter what the assignment is,” Miller said. “They both took the contest seriously and created some real original work. The two of them both enjoy writing.”
Grace said she first realized that she was passionate about writing in 8th grade, moved by Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Since starting high school, she has begun to pursue writing more seriously in her free time, writing essays, poetry, and other pieces, continually inspired by her love of history, film, art, fashion, and classic literature. She has a special love for the Indiana Jones films.
Lilly said she realized she loved reading and writing when her grandfather took her to the public library in elementary school. In addition, she has also always had a love for painting and drawing, and she has been a member of the cheer team since freshman year, and last summer she earned an All American award. She is also a member of the Interact club and works part-time at Nellie’s restaurant.
This year, high schools across the country nominated some 633 students from 44 states, as well as Guam and Washington, D.C. Internationally, teachers nominated students from Canada, Greece, Jordan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Lilly and Grace were one of five students honored in Connecticut. In all, 16 students from the state were entered in the competition.
Two to three independent judges evaluated each submission holistically on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.
Last year, two BHS students were recognized for their writing by the NCTE. For more information about the NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing, including past winners, click here.
Congratulations! Great news.