Lexington High School hosted the state championship of the NCASA Quill writing competition this Saturday, March 2. Seventeen schools (10 high school and 7 middle school) convened in Lexington to compete in this state finals and in the end the Lexington City Schools system emerged with two individual state champions.
The Lexington High School writing team finished in 4th place, beating out six other schools, including some much larger and prestigious schools such as Atkins HS and Myers Park. Last year's Lexington team yielded two individual champions and a narrow 2nd-place finish. This year's finish was against a larger number of schools, and only the top ten of those schools this year made it to the state finals.
LSHS senior Aliyah Wright won her state title in the Creative Writing category. Her innovative composition chose the the color of Red as its topic in a story narrated by a reminiscing murderer. Other writers rounding out the Lexington team were seniors Colin Beamer, Mary Caroline Sharpe, and Katelyn Dezego. Those three students were all taught this year by AP 12 teacher Dawn Poole; Coach Scott Plaster held the tryouts for the Creative Writing spot and chose Aliyah based on her writing samples. "At the regional competition, the judges did not totally agree on the merits of her paper, but I had confidence that her creative approach would be her best asset. I told her for the state finals -- don't change a thing and hopefully the judging will go our way," said Plaster.
Poole was pleased with the team's performance, saying "We had much tougher competition this year compared to the quality of last year's papers. We were hoping for a top-five finish and we did even better than that. I'm very proud of all of our students for a job well done."
The Quill is an on-demand writing competition created by NCASA in which each student team member from a school writes on a different prompt. For the high school the categories also include Literary Analysis, Problem-Solution, and Argumentation. Each paper receives at least two independent blind scores and the team score is derived from the combined team performance.
The Middle School competition was held in conjunction with the high school's. The Lexington Middle School team finished admirably in sixth place, but also achieved an individual state champion. Simone-Elise Honeycutt's story about a shape-shifting creature earned her a state title in the Narrative category, which asked those students to write about three things they would change. Simone-Elise was not originally chosen for the middle school team, but was substituted when another student was not able to compete. Mother Therese Honeycutt explained, "I'm so glad that she was able to take part. A competition such as this one truly offers all types of students opportunities to show their talents and gives them a chance to shine outside the classroom. It's a joy to see how proud Elise and Aliyah were after the contest. They were beaming!"
Local author Barbara Presnell spoke to the students in the afternoon as the judging was completed, sharing and discussing poems from one of her latest books. Students were even treated to copies of her work and a special book signing.
In other news from the Scholastic program at Lexington, the school's quiz bowl season continues into the spring with a number of other planned events. The statewide Art Showcase contest will begin Monday, March 4th, led by the school's art teacher Kim James. In another exciting opportunity, one of the Quill writers has advanced to the state championship of another competition called Poetry Out Loud. On March 16 in Greensboro, Mary Caroline Sharpe will present dramatic performances of famous poems in a chance to be crowned state champion and proceed to the nationals. Teacher Dawn Poole and Scholastic Director Scott Plaster have high hopes for her chances. "She is an extraordinarily talented young lady; we are wishing her the best of luck as she goes to the next level," said Plaster.
For more information about the Quill competition or NCASA, see http://ncscholastic.org.
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Additionally, Lexington High School and Lexington Middle School are both in fourth place in their respective Scholastic Cup points races, and the Lexington City Schools system is in second place in the state in the small system cup race:
The schools participating in The Quill State Competition were also awarded points towards the Cups. The list below shows the current Cup standings:
NCASA Scholastic Cup
1 - Atkins A&T HS - 90 pts
2 - Myers Park HS - 75
3 - Hickory HS - 70
4t - Lexington Senior HS - 55
4t - Northwood HS - 55
6t - Ardrey Kell HS - 50
6t - Northwest Guilford HS - 50
8 - Thomas Jefferson Classical - 45
9t - Gates County HS - 35
9t - Jordan-Matthews HS - 35
Middle School Cup presented by Time Warner Cable
1 - Jay M Robinson MS - 110 pts
2 - Central MS - 95
3 - Mount Mourne School - 80
4 - Lexington MS - 60
5 - Elizabeth City MS - 55
6 - Rogers-Herr MS - 45
7 - JN Fries MS - 35
8 - Piedmont Community Charter School - 30
9 - Hickory Ridge MS - 20
10 - Alexander Graham MS - 5
We will also present the Unity School Cup to the best independent school or charter school in North Carolina. Currently Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy leads Piedmont Community Charter 45 points to 35 points.
We will also present the School District Cup to the best overall small, medium, and large school district in North Carolina according to their schools' Cup points. To qualify, half or more of a school district's middle and high schools must be NCASA member schools and participate in one or more NCASA or partner competitions. Currently Gates County Schools leads Lexington City Schools in the Small School District Division 130 points to 115 points. No other school districts have qualified.
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