Stellar Year For Rockville High School Creative Writers So Far

VERNON, CT — It's been quite a 2021-22 academic year for the Rockville High School creative writing program so far.

RHS senior Kaylin Maher was the first place winner of the University of Connecticut's ECE Wallace Stevens Poetry contest. She received a $500 cash award and will be reading from her winning poetry packet at the 57th Wallace Stevens Poetry Program featuring acclaimed poet D. A. Powell, on March 31.

Rockville High School will have 10 Platinum Published Pieces, 12 Gold Awards, 26 Silver Awards, and 25 Honorable Mentions in UConn's 2022 Connecticut Student Writers Magazine. It represents a record 73 awards and RHS had winners in every category (fiction, poetry, non-fiction) and RHS students won more awards
than any other school in Connecticut:

Platinum Award /Published Pieces

• Kaylin Maher (12) Nonfiction
• Cali Miville (12) Poetry
• Dakota Ouellette (12) Non-Fiction
• Abigail Ursin (12) Nonfiction
• Caitlin Chatterton (11) Poetry
• Joey Gorski (10) Fiction
• Lauren Tedford (10) Poetry
• Kimberly Yankson (10) Poetry
• Madison Frank (9) Fiction
• Athena Lavigne (9) Fiction

Gold Award

• Athena Diaz (12)
• Mia Foley (12)
• Kaylin Maher (12) Poetry
• Dakota Ouellette(12) Poetry
• Abigail Ursin (12) Poetry
• Kyle Schambach (11)Fiction
• Anaya Tolton (11) Fiction
• Natalie Crowley (10) Poetry
• Natalie Crowley (10) Fiction
• Gabby Mckayle (10) Fiction
• Piper Jones (9) Fiction
• Athena Lavigne (9) Poetry

Silver Award

• April Bartolotta (12) Fiction
• April Bartolotta (12) Poetry
• Ryan Harvey (12) Poetry
• Ryan Harvey (12) Fiction
• Ron LoCicero (12) Fiction
• Kaylin Maher (12) Fiction
• Samara Mercado (12) Fiction
• Natalie Tolman (12) Fiction
• Clarissa Halpryn (11) Fiction
• Mikayla Leskey (11) Poetry
• Victoria Mitchell (11) Poetry
• Kameron Pacheco (11) Fiction
• Gracie Sorrow (11) Poetry
• Jerelis Deleon(11) Fiction
• Abby Aggarwala (10) Fiction
• Joe Bradford (10) Fiction
• James Custer (10) Fiction
• Grace Dehnel (10) Poetry
• Sarah Ellefson (10) Poetry
• Morgan Fischer (10) Poetry
• Bee Hermanson (10) Fiction
• Jordyn Karpoff (10) Fiction
• Katherine Larson (10) Non-fiction
• Gabby Mckayle (10) Poetry
• Kameron Pacheco (10) Fiction
• Miles Tolman (10) Fiction

Honorable Mentions

• Olivia Crowley (12) Poetry
• Olivia Crowley (12) Nonfiction
• Athena Diaz (12) Fiction
• Dakota Ouellette(12) Fiction
• Victoria Prignano (12) Poetry
• Muriel Stankeviciute (12) Poetry
• Madalyn Behrmann (11)Fiction
• Clarissa Halpryn (11) Poetry
• Nathan Kay (11) Poetry
• Nathan Kay (11) Fiction
• Mikayla Leskey (11) Fiction
• Gracie Sorrow (11) Poetry
• Joe Bradford (10) Poetry
• James Custer (10) Poetry
• Grace Dehnel (10) Fiction
• Amelia Dykstra (10) Poetry
• Morgan Fischer (10) Fiction
• Bee Hermanson (10) Poetry
• Jordyn Karpoff (10) Poetry
• Jenna Michaud (10) Fiction
• Kaylen Nearine (10) Poetry
• Kimberly Yankson (10) Fiction
• Makenzie Fox (9) Poetry
• Makenzie Fox (9) Fiction
• Katherine Morey (9) Fiction

Twenty-nine Rockville High School students are winners in the 2022 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. RHS students received 49 awards this year, including 10 Gold Keys, 16 Silver Keys, and 23 Honorable Mentions, the highest number of any participating high school in Connecticut.

Muriel Stankeviciute received a 2022 American Voices Nomination for Best in Show. Kaylin
Maher and Dakota Ouellette earned Gold Keys for their writing portfolios.

Also awarded were:

• Abigail Aggarwala (10) Silver Key, Poetry, Honorable Mention, Science Fiction & Fantasy
• Gavin Antonelli (12) Honorable Mention Poetry
• Joseph Bradford (10) Silver Key Poetry
• Poppet Brouillard (10) Silver Key Poetry
• Natalie Crowley (10) Silver Key Poetry
• Olivia Crowley (12) Honorable Mention Personal Essay and Memoir
• Grace Dehnel (10) Silver Key Poetry
• Jerelis Deleon (11) Silver Key Poetry
• Amelia Dystra (10) Silver Key, Honorable Mention Poetry
• Sarah Ellefson (10) Honorable Mention Poetry
• Clarissa Halpryn (11) Silver Key Poetry
• Ryan Harvey (12) Honorable Mention Poetry
• Jordyn Karpoff (10) Silver Key Poetry
• Katherine Larson (9) Honorable Mention Short Story
• Athena Lavigne (9) Honorable Mention (2) Poetry
• Mikayla Leskey (11) Silver Key Poetry
• Nora LoCicero (10) Gold Key Poetry
• Kaylin Maher (12) Gold Key Flash Fiction, Gold Key Writing Portfolio, Gold Key Poetry, Gold Key, Personal Essay and Memoir
• Gabrielle Mckayle (10) Honorable Mention Short Story
• Samara Mercado (12) Honorable Mention Science Fiction & Fantasy, Honorable Mention, Short Story
• Cali Miville (12) Silver Key Poetry (2), Honorable mention Poetry, Honorable Mention Writing Portfolio
• Dakota Ouellette (12) Gold Key Weriting Portfolio, Gold Key Poetry (3), Honorable Mention Poetry (2)
• Kyle Schambach (11) Gold Key Short Story, Honorable Mention Dramatic Script
• Muriel Stankeviciute (12) Gold Key, American Voices Nominee Poetry, Silver Key Poetry, Honorable Mention Poetry
• Lauren Tedford (10) Honorable Mention Poetry
• Anaya Tolton (11) Honorable Mention Flash Fiction
• Brooke Vazquez (9) Silver Key Poetry, Honorable Mention Poetry
• Mikayla Vazquez (9) Honorable Mention Poetry
• Lillian Westerberg (11) Honorable Mention Personal Essay & Memoir