Posted Monday, May 15, 2006, The OG, student awards

The Illinois Assocation of Teachers of English has named five subfreshmen as winners in its annual prose contest for students in grades 1-12. According to English teacher Rosemary Laughlin, this is an unprecedented achievement, at least in her experience.

“Teachers are limited to five prose submissions, and for the first time in the 20 years I've been submitting, all five of my submissions received recognition,” Laughlin said. “The submissions are all read name-and-school-blind by college teachers.”

Students were judged within their respective grade levels. Here are Uni's winners, with summaries courtesy of Laughlin:

FIRST PRIZE
• Ben Suslick — “Solomon the Wise,” a folk tale about a kindly, funny farmer, written in the mode of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Sholem Aleichem.

RUNNERS-UP
• Maria Gao — “Once Upon a Park,” a personal essay about her first visit to Allerton Park as a very small child and the impact it made on her.
• Jasper Maniates-Selvin — “How Lucky Can You Get,” a humorous short story about the family dog who unlocks the door when the family accidentally gets locked out (true, no less!).

HONORABLE MENTIONS
• Lisa Boyce — “Rock-a-bye Baby,” a humorous short story about a girl who terrifies herself into insomnia.
• Sindha Agha — “Vegetarianism,” a persuasive essay on the virtues
of vegetarianism.

As a first-place winner, Suslick will have his story published in the fall issue of Illinois English Bulletin, which is dedicated to the results of the IATE prose and poetry contests.

All of Uni's winners will be recognized at the year-end school awards assembly to be held May 25 at the Illini Union.

— Gargoyle staff