Scholastic Writing Award Winners 2023

Like many notable alumnae before her — including New York Times-bestselling author V.E. Schwab ’05 and children’s book author Reese Witherspoon ’94 — 8th grader Adelle Pitts is a storyteller. She spent months researching the 1930s, crime novels, and short stories in order to craft her SEEK project, a full-length novel that received a Scholastic Gold Key Award this year.

“I read a lot of Agatha Christie novels and Sherlock Holmes short stories,” Adelle said. “Those books inspired me to write my own mystery, and I tried to incorporate some of their writing styles into my own book.”

Adelle took up writing at a young age. Inspired by her love of reading, she began to craft stories of her own. Last year, she attended a course at Johns Hopkins on writing, editing, and publishing.

“I worked for several months researching and writing my book, and I put a lot of time and effort into it, so I was glad to see my hard work pay off,” she said.

Founded in 1923, The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognize outstanding student work throughout the United States. Notable past winners include Joyce Carol Oates, Amanda Gorman, and Stephen King. This year 34 Harpeth Hall students won 38 awards in categories such as Critical Essays, Memoir and Personal Essays, and Poetry. 

Senior Clara Ambrose won a Gold Key Award for a personal essay on how letter writing has shaped her perspective throughout high school. Originally written for her college application, she reflected on how the college admissions process challenged her to write honestly.

“I am thankful to the application process for prompting me to be vulnerable in a way I wouldn’t have otherwise,” Clara said. “My main goal when writing this piece, [which was] constrained by a word limit, was to show the depth of my thoughts and relationships. It was definitely challenging for me to be vulnerable and talk about my personal struggles [but] it was certainly validating to have something so personal be recognized.”

Harpeth Hall boasts its fair share of poets, too. Senior Ava Willoughby won a Gold Key Award for her poem “motherly dissonance.” Using a two-column style, she examined the sometimes overlapping, sometimes differing perspectives of mother and child.

“I wrote this during my creative writing class last semester and felt that it was my strongest piece out of the works I had written, but I wasn't expecting it to do that well,” Ava said. “I was fairly surprised, especially considering this is my second-ever Scholastic Award and first Gold Key. Weeks of revising and rewriting sections paid off in the end.”

Ava credits MarQuis Chappell, her creative writing teacher, for sparking an interest in poetry. In response, Mr. Chappell spoke about the English department’s commitment to encouraging students to submit work every year.

“Our encouragement is less about seeing the girls win awards and is more rooted in pushing them to take risks. [To] try things even when they cannot predict the outcome [and to] trust themselves,” Mr. Chappell said. “Our students are talented! The awards reflect the many hours of brainstorming, writing, revising, and editing our student-writers invest in their writing.”

English teacher Denise Croker echoed this sentiment.

“I'm always amazed and surprised by the incredible quality of work the girls are doing in their classes and on their own, as independent writers,” Ms. Croker said. “It really is gratifying to have their efforts acknowledged outside of school in such a prestigious contest.”

 

2023 Scholastic Writing Award Winners

Amelia Alexopoulos

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Honorable Mention, Critical Essay 

Linden Alldredge

Honorable Mention, Short Story

Clara Ambrose

Gold Key, Personal Essay & Memoir

Josey Beavers

Gold Key, Critical Essay

Lily Bowen

Honorable Mention, Poetry

Sarah Braam

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Kate Maree Brewer

Honorable Mention, Critical Essay

Virginia Callen

Honorable Mention, Poetry

Priyanka Chiguluri

Gold Key, Critical Essay

Madison Chung

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Courtney Couden

Gold Key, Critical Essay

Shaffer Dale

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Honorable Mention, Poetry

Honorable Mention, Critical Essay

Kiran Dhillon

Honorable Mention, Critical Essay

Natalie DiMaria

Silver Key, Flash Fiction

Meronica Forrester-Kent

Honorable Mention, Dramatic Script

Macon Fowler

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Hallie Graham

Honorable Mention, Personal Essay & Memoir

Greta Haroldson

Silver Key, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sarah Hinds

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Kelty Jones

Honorable Mention, Poetry

Jamisyn Larkin

Honorable Mention, Poetry

Maggie Meacham

Honorable Mention, Personal Essay & Memoir

Claire Meredith

Honorable Mention, Poetry

Adelle Pitts

Gold Key, Novel Writing

Anushri Ray

Honorable Mention, Personal Essay & Memoir

Alston Riddick

Silver Key, Critical Essay

Aza Scheele

Silver Key, Personal Essay & Memoir

Rebecca Settle

Honorable Mention, Personal Essay & Memoir

Lexi Stewart

Honorable Mention, Personal Essay & Memoir

L.A. Thompson

Silver Key, Poetry

Jadyn Turbeville

Gold Key, Poetry

Ava Willoughby

Gold Key, Poetry