The Shawano Area Writers presented 43 awards to the next generation of writers Saturday at the Shawano Lake County Park Pavilion.
The youngsters were honored for their stories and poetry in the 2015 George Putz Memorial Writing Contest.
Miranda Paul, an author of children’s books from Green Bay, gave some advice to the young writers and their families as this year’s keynote speaker. Her books include “One Plastic Bag,” “Water is Water,” and “10 Little Ninjas.”
Paul said she was always a reader and writer, even at a very young age, but she did not know any writers personally when she was growing up.
“This was before the Internet,” Paul said. “I couldn’t Google an author and ask them about their writing.”
Paul noted that some of the young writers might decide not to continue writing into adulthood, but for those who do, she encouraged them to write every day.
This year’s contest drew 257 entries from students in grades 1-12. Judges from across Wisconsin combed through the entries during the month of April and selected the best of the bunch.
The writing contest started in 2001 but went on hiatus in 2007. It was brought back in 2014 after the late George Putz bequeathed more than $77,000 from his estate to promote writing in Shawano and Menominee counties.
Here are this year’s winners:
Fiction
Grades 1-4: Selah Schmitt, first place, home-schooled, “The Mystery of Joseph Brian Park”; Jaida Hill, second place, Olga Brener Intermediate School, “Kasbow”; Delanie Kunze, third place, Hillcrest Primary School, “Hunter”; Anna Majeski, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “Cowgirl”; Jaysin Pecore, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “Alex Pecore.”
Grades 5-8: Claire Guenther first place, Shawano Community Middle School, “The Curse of Rainbowpiggia”; Skye Breitrick, second place, Bowler Elementary School, “A Little Boy’s Folk Tale”; Gracie Waukechon, third place, Bonduel Elementary School, “The Hazel Tree”; Sarah Hohn, honorable mention, Gresham Community School, “Jennifer’s Journey to the Center of the Earth”; Meghan Wondra, honorable mention, Bonduel Elementary School, “Tomy’s Fight Back.”
Grades 9-12: Morgan Fregien, first place, home-schooled, “He’s With Me”; Madeline Stuewer, second place, home-schooled, “A Chat Between Old Friends”; Julia Heup, third place, Shawano Community High School, “Sick Day”; Lyndsey Agar, honorable mention, Bowler High School, “A First Person Narrative from Mr Hyde to Dr. Jekyll”; Julia Heup, honorable mention, Shawano Community High School, “A Not So Ordinary Kidnapping.”
Nonfiction
Grades 1-4: Lillian Guenther, first place, Olga Brener Intermediate School, “19th Place”; Anna Majeski, second place, Hillcrest Primary School, “My Fishing Trip”; Bradley Miller, third place, Hillcrest Primary School, “I Am Thankful”; Dallin Winslow, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “The Boat Trip”; Piper Hunter, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “My Mom.”
Grades 5-8: Meghan Wondra, first place, Bonduel Elementary School, “No Good, Rotten Day”; Sarah Hohn, second place, Gresham Community School, “Engineering archery Stabilizers”; Meghan Wondra, third place, Bonduel Elementary School, “Why I Appreciate America’s Veterans”; Meghan Wondra, honorable mention, Bonduel Elementary School, “Sammy Sosa”; Meghan Wondra, honorable mention, Bonduel Elementary School, “My Family.”
Grades 9-12: Bethany Bergmann, first place, home-schooled, “Confessions of a Military Brat”; Ethan Fregien, second place, home-schooled, “A Night in the Box”; Brooke Breitrick, third place, Bowler High School, “Activities in Wisconsin”; Brooke Breitrick, honorable mention, Bowler High School, “John C. Fuerst – A Veteran Interview.”
Poetry
Grades 1-4: Grace Stuewer, first place, home-schooled, “Tap Dance”; Sophia Eggert, second place, Hillcrest Primary School, “Dad”; Lily Glysch, third place, Hillcrest Primary School, “Making the World Better”; Ben Langlois, honorable mention, Olga Brener Intermediate School, “Snowflakes”; Sophia Eggert, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “Piper”; Delanie Kunze, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “Allie”; Bradley Miller, honorable mention, Hillcrest Primary School, “Chuy.”
Grades 5-8: Josie Bray, first place, home schooled, “The Monster Under the Bed”; Sarah Hohn, second place, Gresham Community School, “Jesus Restores the Evil Possessed.”
Grades 9-12: Bethany Bergmann, first place, home-schooled, “To Take a Hand”; Noah Treptow, second place, Bonduel High School, “The Feelings I Feel”; Bethany Bergmann, third place, home-schooled, “A Hypochondriac’s Muse”; Madeline Stuewer, honorable mention, home-schooled, “An Autobiography of a Melodramatic Blade of Grass”; Ethan Fregien, honorable mention, home-schooled, “Miss Superstar.”
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