Watertown Student Earns Writing Award from Catholic Memorial

The following release was sent out by Catholic Memorial School:

Three accomplished authors weighed in on Catholic Memorial School's best student writers on Jan. 20, naming the winners of school’s Picturing America Writing Contest. Among them was senior Raffi Grigorian of Watertown, who earned an honorable mention certificate in the category of poetry.

Novelist William Martin, sports columnist Michael Connelly and poet Barbara Helfgott Hyett gathered with school president Paul Sheff, students and parents in the school's Board Room for an awards ceremony and reception.

The three writers selected the winners from a record 250 entries and were awarded over $450 in cash and prizes. Students in seventh through twelfth grade participated, submitting their creative work in November and December to the annual writing contest, which librarian Ann Magyar organizes. 

President Paul Sheff closed the ceremony with a simple salutation to all the student writers: keep on writing. "One of the things we talk about at a Catholic school is the sacred. Life is first sacred, but the word is next," Sheff said. "So when you read to us - whether fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, each of you is giving us a gift, the sacred gift of your word."