December 11, 2023 – With 40 minutes on the clock, students raced against time, frantically putting pen to paper as they transferred their vividly complex thoughts into articulate stories.
Students from five Columbus City Schools (CCS) high schools didn’t know what to expect when they competed in their first JustWrite Columbus City Regional Central Ohio Tournament held at Eastmoor Academy.
“I didn't know we had to write with a pen,” said Fort Hayes High School senior Ellie Morris. "We weren't allowed to erase anything, and we had to put a line through words we no longer wanted to use."
Between the five CCS school competitors, one school stood out significantly, writing themselves into history as Grand Champions and almost sweeping the competition.
After hearing their school’s name announced as champions in both of the writing divisions and crowned as Overall Grand Champion of the event, Fort Hayes High School students were overwhelmed with tears of joy. Seeing the team so elated, Writing Coach Courtney Johnson wanted to share the incredible moment with the students’ language arts teacher, and immediately Facetimed him.
“Ms. Johnson called me and I was like, ‘Why is she Facetiming me at three o'clock on a Saturday?’” said Fort Hayes language arts teacher Daniel O’Grady. “I took the FaceTime call and she was just screaming with all of the excited students in the background. It was so cool! I am so proud of them.”
Fort Hayes earned first place in every category, except the Individual Creative Writing, which went to Columbus Alternative High School (CAHS).
“I never placed in a writing competition before,” said Morris. “So, to have my writing validated during my senior year of school was an amazing experience. Just to know I did something like this is wild. It’s going to be a wonderful memory to look back on.”
CAHS, Eastmoor, Fort Hayes, Independence, and Northland high schools were each allowed to bring one team of up to six students for each division. Division One consisted of 9th and 10th grade students, while Division Two was made up of 11th and 12th graders. Awards were given to top individual poets, top individual creative writers, top Division teams, and the overall highest-scoring team in both Divisions.
Students were challenged to respond to one poetry prompt before the competition and three creative prompts during the competition. The groups wrote from prompts that included genres such as fiction, mystery, classic horror/goth, fantasy, and non-fiction.
“My favorite prompt was the science fiction one,” said Fort Hayes junior Leila Glanton. “The prompt was about being on Mars and finding an alien artifact and writing a story explaining it. There's so much you can say and you have to be really imaginative – it was fun to create.”
The top individual poetry winners of each division automatically qualify for the state competition, on May 9 at the University of Findlay, and in just a few weeks, the creative writing winners joining them will also be announced.
Four other regional tournaments will happen throughout Ohio between December and February. Those winners will also advance to the State Tournament. Winners will have their work published in the JustWrite yearly anthology “Collection of Voices” showcasing the creative outpourings of the students.
“This competition was way out of my comfort zone and helped my confidence and self-esteem to compete in more opportunities like these in the future,” said Fort Hayes sophomore and state JustWrite qualifier Jayah Hunt.
Although the JustWrite program is headed into its fourth year, it is the first year CCS has participated in the writing competition. JustWrite is an educational program that directly supports the state learning standards in writing “narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.”
“Our Fort Hayes writers got up early Saturday morning to spend the entire day competing in their first JustWrite Ohio Columbus Regional Tournament…and they won!” said Johnson. “They were very brave to enter a writing competition, especially one that none of us knew what to expect, and I am so proud of them.”
To learn more about JustWrite Ohio click here.
INDIVIDUAL POETRY WINNERS
Division One
- Cadence Hensel, Fort Hayes
- Jayah Hunt, Fort Hayes
- Ryder Caudill, Fort Hayes
Division Two
- Lucie Miller, Fort Hayes
- Brillyant Moore, Northland
- Saja Al-Hashemi, CAHS
INDIVIDUAL CREATIVE WRITING WINNERS
Division One
- Shyla Nutt, Fort Hayes
- Cadence Hensel, Fort Hayes
- Niciya Austin, Fort Hayes
- Amaya Brown, Fort Hayes
- Caren Adjei, Independence
- Ryder Caudill, Fort Hayes
- Makayla Kitt, Independence
- Rejoyce Barber-Martin, Independence
- Jayah Hunt, Fort Hayes
- Beatrice Watson, CAHS
Division Two
- Fennic Milner, CAHS
- Sloan Mercerhill, Fort Hayes
- Saja Al-Hashemi, CAHS
- Lucie Miller, Fort Hayes
- Houley Koundourou , CAHS
- Amaiya Moorer, Eastmoor Academy
- Akilah Bayless-Sizemoor, Eastmoor Academy
- Kim'Mya Byrd-Green, Eastmoor Academy
- Leila Glanton, Fort Hayes
- Ellie Morris, Fort Hayes
- Brillyant Moore, Northland
- Seth Beckhon, Northland
TEAM CREATIVE WRITING WINNERS
Division One
- Fort Hayes
- Independence
- CAHS
Division Two
- Fort Hayes
- CAHS
- Eastmoor Academy
Combined Divisions Grand Champion: Fort Hayes
*First place writers, Shyla Nutt and Lucie Miller are in the running for the state competition and possible publication of their writing.
Schools and Coaches for Columbus City Regional (Central Ohio) Tournament
- CAHS, Coach: Evan Spooner
- Eastmoor Academy, Coach: Wyk McGowan/Chloe Heins
- Fort Hayes, Coach: Courtney Johnson/Linda Key
- Independence, Coach: Lizz Birkhoff
- Northland, Coach: Christopher Monteiro/Elizabeth Kronenwetter
