Three juniors will represent CF in national writing contest

Jordyn Carias/Staff Writer

The annual National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) competition is back, and three CFHS juniors will be front and center to compete. The top three writers, as chosen by the department, are Rachel Connelly, Alex Entz and Bailey Pons.

The students had to nominated by their English teachers, submit a piece of their best work and write an impromptu essay. After each member of the English department looked everything over, they notified the three finalists.

Pons said, “I was surprised. I was so happy about it; I just started writing for fun. I was so happy.”

Pon’s peers, and now competitors, also shared the excitement.
Along with the honor and opportunity of it all, it racks the students’ nerves as it puts their writing skills on the line.

Connley said, “I’m nervous about coming up with something to write about. I’m also nervous about having other people read the stuff that I write because that’s always scary when you put lots of effort into something — you’re afraid someone else won’t like or they’ll knock it down.”
Once the juniors were in the early stages of the competition, they had to come up with an impromptu piece to submit. They were given two potential prompts, told to choose one and had time to write the work they would turn in.

English teacher Michelle Rathe, who also facilitates the NCTE competition at the high school, gave the advice to future writers, “Show skill, be creative with the content and show style. Style is huge.”

The final competition will be held in early April. Last year’s winners from Cedar Falls Hish Schoool at the national level were Michael Miller and Michelle Reidenbough.