KET is pleased to announce the winners of its 2021 Young Writers Contest. The annual contest encourages creative expression and literacy development by inviting students in kindergarten through twelfth grade to submit original illustrated stories, short stories and poetry.
Thank you to all who entered, and congratulations to our winners! You can read the first, second and third places pieces in each category below.
ILLUSTRATED STORY – KINDERGARTEN
First Place: Caroline Reynolds, Lexington, KY for “The Sneaky Twins Learn a Lesson”
Second Place: Wriston Iocco, Walton, KY for “Eric the Apple”
Third Place: Greta Walther, Lexington, KY for “The Little Chick and Its Mom”
Finalists:
Oath Smith, Owensboro, KY for “How to make a Smowman”
Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY ty you “Pinkie and Rainie’s Big Adventure”
Johnbo Morrison-Taylor, Louisville, KY for “The Jaguar and the Fish”
ILLUSTRATED STORY – FIRST GRADE
First Place: Nathan Hardin, Louisville, KY for “b Yourself”
Second Place: Dawson Abney, Richmond, KY for “My Journey to Mars”
Third Place: Maryam Gauhar, Louisville, KY for “How to Wash Your Hands: COVID EDITION”
Finalists:
Adalynn Kennedy, Hardinsburg, KY for “A Pet Show”
David Sun, Lexington, KY for “David’s Fable: the snail and the inchworm”
Mary Alice Sienkiewicz, Lexington, KY for “Ruby Bridges”
Carson Miller, Richmond, KY for “Billy and Willy are Silly”
Noah Poly, Lexington, KY for “Shark Kid and the Clam”
Honorable Mention:
Mora Schissler, Louisville, KY for “The Horses New Home”
ILLUSTRATED STORY – SECOND GRADE
First Place: Grace Hardin, Louisville, KY for “The Pig Adventure”
Second Place: Madison Iocco, Walton, KY for “Clara’s Problem”
Third Place: Raiyan Elmerse, Louisville, KY for “A Fishy Situation”
Finalists:
Eden Stanley, Richmond, KY for “Verleen the Visionary”
Nova Sutton, Richmond, KY for “Rosie and the Papayas”
Jesse Simpson, Richmond, KY for “The Big Storm”
Shelton Stepp, Richmond, KY for “A Cure for Captain Cosmos”
Alice Kim, Louisville, KY for “The legend of the circle”
Ali Jaber, Louisville, KY for “Karayel the Panda”
Honorable Mention:
Avery Osborne, Richmond, KY for “Max’s Story”
Riley Lynch, Richmond, KY for “The Next Tree”
Raelyn Pace, Lexington, KY for “Seasons”
ILLUSTRATED STORY – THIRD GRADE
First Place: Ellie Groene, Ft. Mitchell, KY for “The Wish”
Second Place: Elliot Murry, Lexington, KY for “This is Me”
Third Place: Melody Yates, Winchester, KY for “The Wishing Well”
Finalists:
Pinkie Lin, Lexington, KY for “Will’s Forest Adventure”
Faith Lee, Wilmore, KY for “Green and Pretty, Earth Day Challenge”
Joseph Fox, Williamstown, KY for “Fun in the Sun”
Payton Pelfrey, Williamstown, KY for “Silly duck Bob and Martine the Bee”
Stella Heathcoat, Lexington, KY for “Brenda and Captain’s Ghostly Adventures”
Ben Schissler, Louisville, KY for “The Lonely Only Megalodon”
Porter Dodson, Owensboro, KY for “The Bad Horse”
Honorable Mention:
Abbey Piatt, Lexington, KY for “The Crazy Story of the Lost Kitten”
Cj Beckman, Williamstown, KY for “Rexy’s Little Adventure”
Mila Lequire, Banner, KY for “Grace the Horse”
Nolan Jones, Georgetown, KY for “Mr. Dog”
Sophie Ross, Louisville, KY for “The Stray on the Last Day”
ILLUSTRATED STORY – INTERMEDIATE
First Place: Adah Hardin, Louisville, KY for “Can I Tell You a Secret?”
Second Place: Ibraheem Gauhar, Louisville, KY for “Dogzilla: King of the Day”
Third Place: Charlotte Pohn, Louisville, KY for “How Yarn Breathes and the Story of a Ball of Yarn”
Finalists:
Anika Fauver, Louisville, KY for “The Unexpected Guest”
Lucas Glasnovic, Louisville, KY for “Sneaky’s Adventure: Sneaky to the Rescue”
Davis Borders, Lexington, KY for “Mike the Chair”
Sylvia Mason, Louisville, KY for “Bliss, the Rebel Princess”
Ella Hanson, Owenton, KY for “The Small Life of Holly Underwood”
Huda Hasnain, Goshen, KY for “A Ramadan Story of Laila the Cat”
Honorable Mention:
Alice Dobson, Louisville, KY for “The Talking Dog”
Abigail Haxby, Mt. Washington, KY for “A Tale of Two Friends”
Cassielle Wafford, Louisville, KY for “How the Rabbit Got Its Ears”
Addi Schorck, Lexington, KY for “The Great Surprise”
SHORT STORY – INTERMEDIATE
First Place: Nicholas J. Heidinger, Louisville, KY for “A Light in the Dark”
Second Place: Asher Cohen, Louisville, KY for “A Magical Forest”
Third Place: Peyton Kennedy, Hardinsburg, KY for “The Wizardly Redemption”
Finalists:
Megan Simon, Calhoun, KY for “A Day in Space”
Zoe Kasacavage, Lexington, KY for “Mr. Chipmunk”
Lydia Wiseman, Lexington, KY for “The Hurt Turtle”
Bella O’Connor, Louisville, KY for “War with Julia”
Piper Carlisle, Morehead, KY for “The Mystery”
Emma Brown, Louisville, KY for “The Dog Dynasties”
Nicol Cohen, Louisville, KY for “A Dream Come True”
Avery O’Brien, Madisonville, KY for “Taco Tuesday”
Gabriella Maldonado, Winchester, KY for “Small Tail, Big Tale”
Abigail Mitchell, Villa Hills, KY for “Marjorie and JoJo’s Adventure in the Land of the Deep and Dense”
SHORT STORY – MIDDLE GRADES
First Place: Alyssa Pollard, Louisville, KY for “The Scar”
Second Place: Emma Garner, Simpsonville, KY for “Arabian Nights”
Third Place: Sophia Taylor, Fort Thomas, KY for “An Elf’s Quest”
Finalists:
Zaineb Elmerse, Louisville, KY for “Tom’s Oak”
Jaycie Wilcox, Lawrenceburg, KY for “Ghostess to the Mostess”
Albany Vincent, Louisville, KY for “Detective Triple-A and the mystery of the Missing Ring”
Mia Lequire, Banner, KY for “The Dance Club”
Carriann Campbell, Utica, KY for “Doesn’t She Know Her Worth”
Ansley Cecil, Calhoun, KY for “Differences”
SHORT STORY – HIGH SCHOOL
First Place: Zach Herp, Louisville, KY for “Cave Fish”
Second Place: Abby Kane, Crestview Hills, KY for “It’s a Colorful World”
Third Place: Olivia Lewis, Frankfort, KY for “Fettered to the Picket Fence”
Finalists:
Jon Mills, Bimble, KY for “11 to 1809”
Christine Lee, Louisville, KY for “Troubled Memories”
Ella Fogle, Utica, KY for “The Druid Sun”
Zoe Schaeffer, Lexington, KY for “Remarkably Unremarkable”
Lucy Cunningham, Frankfort, KY for “Trepidation”
Victoria Korchuk, Versailles, KY for “30 Minutes in Memory Lane”
Hailey Lin, Louisville, KY for “52nd Hour”
Emma Henderson, Louisville, KY for “A Window to Another World”
Lauren Wood, Louisville, KY for “As Luck Would Have it”
Nikki Shouse, Frankfort, KY for “INESCAPABLE”
POETRY – INTERMEDIATE
First Place: Sylvia Mason, Louisville, KY for “The Nature Debate: A Debate About Nature”
Second Place: Charlotte Garman, Louisville, KY for “Forest of Hope”
Third Place: Michael Reljac, Richmond, KY for “Where I’m From”
Finalists:
Caitlyn Douglas, Lexington, KY for “A New Time”
Jack Reinecke, Cold Spring, KY for “Summer Nights”
Sawyer Thronton, Louisville, KY for “THE TREE”
Robert Swansburg, Louisville, KY for “Happiness”
Colt Cook, Lancaster, KY for “PANDEMIC”
Liam Moffett, Harrodsburg, KY for “Growing Old”
Presley Norton Mcclure, Harrodsburg KY for “Ruby Red Slippers”
POETRY – MIDDLE GRADES
First Place: Nashell Broughton Robinson, Louisville, KY for “The Queen”
Second Place: Jacoby Smith, Louisville, KY for “Oh Grandma”
Third Place: Nina Tay, Lexington, KY for “daisies (pure souls found each other)”
Finalists:
Dwight Thompson, Louisville, KY for “I am Brown”
Lily Berfield, Louisville, KY for “Buttons”
Ethan Holtsclaw, Louisville, KY for “Alone”
Della Peron, Louisville, KY for “Mrs. Wonky and Mr. Grave”
Cadence Perman, Berea, KY for “Afraid of the Dark”
Ethne Fleming, Frankfort, KY for “no one knows”
Nancy Kirk, Union, KY for “under my skin and up my throat”
Hajar Elayyadi, Hebron, KY for “Pretend”
POETRY – HIGH SCHOOL
First Place: Kiran Koul, Lexington, KY for “Green”
Second Place: Macie Hill, Berea, KY for “Down Here in the South”
Third Place: Maira Faisal, Florence, KY for “Halcyon”
Finalists:
Katie Norman, Frankfort, KY for “Fun and Forgiveness”
Kathleen Bauer, Lexington, KY for “Caring, or, Why I Wear a Mask”
Caylin Kohlstruk, Louisville, KY for “Pink Gorilla”
Emma Henderson, Louisville, KY for “Inside my Mind”
Evelyn Parsons, Berea, KY for “The shadows in the mirrors”
Madison Sharon, Richmond, KY for “Crystal Clear”
Abby Kane, Crestview Hills, KY for “Read My Mind”
Mayukha Bhamidipati, Louisville, KY for “Underwater”