In the Senior Division, Abigail Fourspring won first place and received the Walter Edgar Award. Sarah Saddoris won second place and Annika Imai won Honorable Mention. Nathan Minsk was a finalist.
Pat Conroy and Marjory Wentworth judged the writings of the semi-finalists, 29 juniors and seniors, each of whom submitted two pieces of writing. In the first one, students used a variety of genres to answer the question "How should we improve the state of South Carolina?" For the second stage of the contest, students traveled to the USC campus in Columbia and wrote an impromptu piece about a story or storyteller that was most meaningful to them.
The writings of the winners and finalists will be published in Writing South Carolina: Selections from the Second High School Writing Contest. The anthology will be published in 2016 under the USC Press Young Palmetto Books imprint. Wentworth, the state's poet laureate, will write the foreword.
Riverside to hold College Application Day Oct. 14
Riverside High School will hold College Application Day Oct. 14. Seniors may sign up to participate and will have the opportunity to complete their college applications online in the computer lab.
Local admission counselors will be on hand to assist seniors by answering questions and giving assistance with the applications. ?
Riverside students among finalists in National Merit Scholarship Program
Five Riverside High School seniors are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Rowan Crowley, Sarai Dai, Victoria Glenn, Carol Lee and Karen Zhao will compete for 7,400 National Merit Shcolarships worth about $32 million. Scholarships will be awarded in the spring.
To become a finalist the semifinalist must submit a detailed scholarship application. The application includes the student's academic record, community service activities, leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards.