Mepham, Kennedy Students Honored with Writing Awards

Editor's Note: This article was written by representatives of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.

Andrew Montalti, a junior at Mepham High School, is a recipient of the 2013 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Award in Writing.

This award is conferred by the National Council of Teachers of English in recognition of excellence in writing. This year, there were 150 nationwide chosen as outstanding writers. Students had to submit two writing samples – a best and a themed submission. This year’s theme chosen by the NCTE was “Personal Mount Rushmore,” for which students had to write about figures that represent their personal ideals.  

For his best writing sample, Montalti submitted a narrative piece that explained his personal response to Mepham High School’s Challenge Day. His reflection in both of his pieces exposed some raw emotion about the qualities he esteems and the experience he had.

Montalti is enrolled in AP classes, a member of the National, English, Spanish and Tri-M (music) honor societies. He is also a member of the Cross Country and Winter Track Teams, Track & Field, Co-Editor of the Newspaper and a member of the Mepham Orchestra. He has participated in the Poetry Out Loud competition, Athletes Helping Athletes and is a Lector at his church.

Gregory Mora, a junior at John F. Kennedy High School, was a recipient of the 2013 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Achievement Award in Writing. The awards program was established in 1957 to encourage high school students in their writing and to publicly recognize some of the best writers in the nation.  

Papers are judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.  Greg was one of only twenty-four students from New York State to have received an NCTE Achievement Award in Writing.  Through conferences with the English Chairperson and his teacher, Ms. Sapir, Gregory revised his themed response to “Personal Mount Rushmore,” and he challenged himself to write a fictional piece that followed four characters around New York City while seamlessly interweaving their journeys.   

Mora’s diligence and willingness to experiment with his writing helped him to craft two beautiful written pieces.

Mora is enrolled in AP classes, a member of the National, Spanish, Science and Tri-M (music) honor societies. He is also a member of the jazz and string ensembles as well as the NYSSMA All-State String Ensemble.

Mora will be next year’s president of the Key Club and is a member of the HOPE (Helping our Planet Earth) club.