North High School junior Allison Rosenbaum was a winner of the 2013 National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award in Writing. She is among 155 winners nationwide, from 753 high school juniors nominated by their english departments. Winners receive NCTE certificates of commendation and recommendations for admission to their selected colleges and universities. Rosenbaum’s english teachers are Edward Baluyut for english 11 and Jeffrey Gilden for creative writing.
Each nominee submitted two writing samples, best and themed, that were evaluated by national judges on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style. Judges also looked for writing that demonstrated effective and imaginative use of language to inform and move an audience. Both writings went through a process of drafting and revision.
The themed writing was in prose on a common topic developed by the Achievement Awards Advisory Committee. This year’s theme was “Personal Mount Rushmore.” Students were asked to imagine the four figures who would represent their personal ideals. They used evidence from personal readings, observations, and/or experiences to support their proposal.
The best writing could be in any genre or combination of genres (poetry, narrative, argument, expository), excluding research or term papers and novels.
The Achievement Awards in Writing, established in 1957, are designed to encourage high school students in their writing and to publicly recognize some of the best student writers in the country.
