Student writers from OH and other neighboring schools traveled to Literary Fest, prepared to showcase their literature pieces. The event took place April 11 at Lewis University and was hosted by Minooka High School and Lit Fest coordinator Andres Garcia.
“Lit Fest is a conference tournament where students submit writing pieces in various categories,” OH English teacher and Lit Fest chaperone Abby Bartle said. “Judges read these pieces, and then at Lit Fest, they announce the winners for each category.”
“During the event, students also get to attend different lectures from the judges about different aspects of writing,” she added.
OH earned the most honors in the competition, having 11 OH students place for an award or honorable mention. Two OH students received the Critic’s Choice Award, the highest award presented at Lit Fest.
“I won the Critic’s Choice award for the short story category,” OH senior Zachary May-Rees said.
As one of the winners of this award, May-Rees proved to the judges that his piece was outstanding.
“My story is about a widower whose daughter is leaving for college. While he wants his daughter to enjoy college life, she’s going away for college, and he feels that he is losing her similarly to how he lost his wife,” May-Rees said.
The writers’ creativity and freedom to write anything they pleased brought up a lot of unique pieces that stood out to judges.
“It’s always a good experience. We’re grateful that Lewis University allows us to use their campus for this event, as it has grown with 12 schools in the conference,” OH English teacher and Panther Writer sponsor Erin Holtz said.
Judges varied from different schools, OH English teachers critiqued pieces for the competition fro, depending on the category.
“I picked our pieces for some of the categories (Mrs. Holtz did the others), and I was blown away by all of the writing. Of the winners, Delaney Segarra’s and Bella Delgado’s pieces stood out to me the most,” Bartle said.
Students who attended the event for their first time had pleasant things to say about the experience, intrigued by all the many pieces and activities being showcased.
“It was Standing O’ Theatre Company (SOTC) first year doing a Play in a Day, and at first, I was skeptical, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and a new experience. freshmen and sophomores who are looking to act can do this, and then juniors and seniors who are looking to write/direct can do so.” OH Junior Grace Wagner said.
Wagner and her writing partner Lia Ramirez won 2nd place for their mockumentary for SOTC in the Dramatic Scene category.
“My absolute favorite part was watching the absolute joy on students’ faces as they announced the winners,” Bartle said. “More than that, every single school cheered wholeheartedly for every winner, no matter if they were from their own school or not.”
“There was so much joy and excitement for others in that room that it warmed my heart,” she added.
I am a senior at OHS, I am currently involved in the Panther Credit Union, 42Fifty, and Youth and Government. You can contact me at 30881537@students.sd308.org.
