• Two elementary students place first in their categories

Eight students from the Star Valley community have earned honors in the State of Wyoming Young Authors writing program, with kindergarten student, Miriam Henderson (WYVA) placing first for her nonfiction piece, “The Day I Found Dandylion,” and 6th grade student, Piper Frye (EES), taking home 1st prize for her piece “Hero.” Six of the eight students submitted from Star Valley emerged with Honorable Mention awards.

Dozens of student writers from schools throughout Wyoming submitted their work to the Young Author’s Program in their schools and districts, and then winning submissions from each district advanced for judging at the state level.

“The Young Author program has been a wonderful avenue for many of our students to write and illustrate their stories and poetry for more than three decades,” said Shelley Hunsaker, who serves as LCSD No. 2 District Librarian. Sponsored by the Wyoming State Literacy Association the program is intended to “promote writing and literacy in K-12 schools throughout the State of Wyoming.”

Schools throughout the state are invited and encouraged to have students participate in the competition, which is offered “for all grades, K-12 in public, private or homeschool. Entries include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and graphic novels.” The hope is that students will write for enjoyment and have opportunities to share their work.

Under the direction of LCSD No. 2 Director of Instruction Kory Hokanson and LCSD No. 2 Grants Coordinator Cheyanne Wolfley, Hunsaker has rallied coordinators in each local building to inspire and support students in their work. Robert Kinn, Katie McKeown, Stephanie Suloff and Amy Klindt, actively promote the Young Authors program in their schools and community.

“The writing samples that have been generated and subsequently submitted this year by our grades 3-12 students are just so incredible,” Hunsaker exclaimed. “We have some extremely talented young writers in our community and the Young Authors program provides a platform for our students to be mentored and celebrated as writers. Hats off to our amazing educators and parents who have helped our kids achieve such remarkable success in literacy and writing. I am so impressed with our young writers. We were represented well across the State with [two first place ribbons] and numerous Honorable mentions. Such talent in our community.”

State Winners:

First Place – Kindergarten Nonfiction: Miriam Henderson for “The Day I Found Dandylion”

First Place – 6th Grade Fiction: Piper Frye for “Hero”

Honorable Mention – 4th Grade Poetry Phoebe Henscheid for “Sports”

Honorable Mention- 5th Grade Graphic Novel Maggie Simmons for “Spirit”

Honorable Mention- 9th Grade Fiction: Brooklyn Scherbel for “Shepherds Christmas”

Honorable Mention- 10th Grade Fiction: Symantha Hepworth for “The Heir of Atlas”

Honorable Mention- 11th Grade Poetry: Taggart Ivie for “Beyond City Limits”

Honorable Mention- 12th Grade Poetry: Rebeka Rodriguez for “In Another Life. In Another World.”

District Winners from AES

3rd Grade Poetry: Tayla Corson for “Animals and Holiday Cheer”

3rd Grade Fiction: Thomas Colvin for “The Magical Lake”

3rd Grade Nonfiction: Carson Lovelady for “The Trip to Washington”

3rd Grade Graphic Novel: Hans Ayres for “Max the Super Dog”

3rd Grade Fiction: Molly Hale for “The Princess Dragon”

District Winners from EES

4th Grade Fiction: Aspen Nilson for “Our Princess Versions”

4th Grade Graphic Novel: Santiago Corona for “The Adventures of Game Boy”

5th Grade Poetry: Jennie Aitken for “Little Poems”

5th Grade Fiction: Haze Phillips for “The Lantern Saga”

6th Grade Fiction: Piper Frye for ‘Hero”

District Winners from OES

4th Grade Poetry: Phoebe Henscheid for “Sports”

4th Grade Fiction: Lila Stokes for “The Long Walk Home”

5th Grade Poetry: Faith Whitten for “Into the Depth of Emotion”

5th Grade Graphic Novel: Maggie Simmons for “Spirit”

5th Grade Fiction: Everly Cunningham for “Catfeathers”

6th Grade Fiction: Oakley Dunlap for “Escape”

6th Grade Poetry: Declan Orr for “Animal Haiku’s”

District Winners from SVHS
Aviel Bagley, Jaden Edwards, Symantha Hepworth, Taggart Ivie, Lily Keith, Trapper Merritt, Rickie Palmer, Rebeka Rodriguez, Brooklyn Scherbel and Emma Wolfley.