Five District 99 students earn writing awards

DOWNERS GROVE – Five Downers Grove North High School seniors earned Midwest Region Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for creative writing.

The awards are accepted and judged by the Belin-Blank Center within the College of Education at the University of Iowa.

Madeline Riske earned a Gold Key, the highest recognition, for her poetry submission titled “A Forbidden Prayer.” Her entry has advanced to national judging, and awards will be announced this spring, a news release stated.

“We are overjoyed to celebrate Madeline Riske, Christina Powell, Grace Beacom, Madison Smith and Rebecca Orjala,” English teacher Lauren Schlesinger said in the release. “All five of these senior writers sharpened their craft during our creative writing course and worked countless hours outside of school to draft, rewrite, confer, edit and revise their poems and stories for the 2022 Scholastic Writing competition. I am confident that each of these seniors will continue writing beyond Downers Grove North, and further develop their careers as skilled writers and accomplished poets.”

Midwest Region Scholastic Art & Writing Awards went to:

• Christina Powell, who earned a Silver Key in the novel writing category for “The War for One,” a Silver Key in poetry for “Hidden Identities,” honorable mention in flash fiction for “The Green Umbrella” and honorable mention in writing portfolio for “2021 Progress Watch.”

• Grace Beacom, who earned a Silver Key in poetry for “The Garden.”

• Madeline Riske, who earned a Gold Key in poetry for “A Forbidden Prayer”; a Silver Key in novel writing for “Witchhunted”; a Silver Key in poetry for “Coffee Black (Daybreak)”; a Silver Key in poetry for “Day of Reckoning”; a Silver Key in short story for “Lake Vermilion”; and honorable mention in writing portfolio for “Handheld Epiphanies.”

• Madison Smith, who earned honorable mention in short story for “The Underpass.”

• Rebecca Orjala, who earned three honorable mentions in poetry for “Envy,” “Garden of Life” and “The Girl Who Caught the Stars.”

For information about the Midwest Region Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit belinblank.education.uiowa.edu/students/scholastic.