Three juniors and one senior have won the top awards in the annual South Carolina High School Writing Contest. Presented by the South Carolina Honors College, the contest asks the same question each year: “How can we make South Carolina better?” Students can respond in poetry, prose, drama and fiction, keeping their submissions within 750 words. This year’s grand judge was Claire Jiménez, a professor at the University of South Carolina whose novel, “What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez,” won the 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award.
“It was so inspiring to read these essays,” Jiménez said. “Each of these writers wrote bravely and filled me with hope for our future."
Jada Robinson of Mauldin won first place with “Change Begins with Us,” an essay about systemic racism. Robinson is a junior at South Carolina Connections Academy, where Elizabeth Goddard is her English teacher. She will receive the Walter Edgar Award, which includes $1,000. The Walter Edgar Award is funded by Thad Westbrook, a Columbia lawyer and South Carolina Honors College graduate, in honor of his history professor.
Diya Kakkar won second place with “My Silence, My Shield,” a personal essay about the importance of accepting everyone and the fear immigrants face. Kakkar is a junior at J. L. Mann High School in Greenville, where Kelli Malinowski is her AP Language teacher. She will receive the South Carolina Academy of Authors award, which includes $500.
Mary Soutter Pack of Spartanburg won third place for “The Palmetto Blueprint,” a story about the unfair economics of public education. She is a junior at Spartanburg High School, where Taleisha Moore is her English teacher. Pack will receive the South Carolina Academy of Authors/Pat Conroy Literary Center Award, which includes $250.
Pranavi Mancham of Lexington won Honorable Mention for “A Price Too High,” about the multiple harms book bannings inflict on students. Mancham is a senior at River Bluff High School in Lexington, where Jon Lavoisier is her AP language and composition teacher.
Now in its 13th year, the South High School Carolina Writing Contest was founded by Steven Lynn, dean of the South Carolina Honors College. The contest includes a publishing opportunity for its winners and finalists. This year, the submissions of the four winners and 22 finalists will be published on the South Carolina Honors College website. The series of volumes are titled “Writing South Carolina: Selections of the High School Writing Contest.” More than 300 high schoolers, in 11th and 12th grades, submitted to this year’s contest.
“This generation, like all generations, has its own concerns,” said Aïda Rogers, contest coordinator. “Students in today’s South Carolina are affected by racism, education inequality and school violence. They can educate older generations about their struggles with mental health, their worries about the environment and their desire to help solve these problems. They are our future leaders, and we hope people will read their published work.”
The contest’s presenting partners include the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the South Carolina Academy of Authors, the South Carolina Writers Association and the South Carolina State Library. Previous judges have been acclaimed South Carolina writers, including novelists Pat Conroy, Ron Rash, Pam Durban, Mary Alice Monroe, Carla Damron and Elise Blackwell; poets Nikky Finney, Felicia Mitchell, Marjory Wentworth, Sam Amadon and Ray McManus; historian Walter Edgar; and Jonathan Haupt, former director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
Noelle Benoit, Manning High School
Leen Darwisha, Riverside High School, Greer
Kayla Diaz-Janes, Charleston County School of the Arts
Emily Helie, Mid-Carolina High School, Prosperity
Aine Kim, River Bluff High School, Lexington
Kaylee Leonard, Chesterfield High School
Hadley Leonhardt, North Myrtle Beach High School
Khyree Lucas, Dreher High School, Columbia
Sreepragnya Mekala, Nation Ford High School, Fort Mill
Molly Mettler, Ashley Hall, Charleston
Rose Miller, Ridge View High School, Columbia
Harper Moody, Wando High School, Mt. Pleasant
Grace Perkins, James F. Byrnes High School, Duncan
Dianalys Ruiz, Spartanburg County Early College High School
Luz Salado-Perez, Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School
Miguel Shim, Hammond School, Columbia
Gabby Smothers, West Florence High School
Victoria Stone, Gray Collegiate Academy, West Columbia
Gwenny Svendsen, Charleston County School of the Arts
Angelica Tenorio-Gonzalez, Airport High School, West Columbia
Payton Ware, Fountain Inn High School
Logan Wells, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia