Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy claimed state championship writing awards for the third consecutive year at The Quill, an on-demand high school writing competition hosted by the North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities. The Quill, held on December 4, featured ten regionally-qualified high schools from throughout North Carolina.
Each participating team included four students who were challenged to respond to four different text-type prompts. After tallying scores, Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy's Quill team, represented by students Jennie Conner, Vivien Tesseneer, Katrina Shauf, and Maylan Maxwell and coached by Kimberly Lloyd, received the state championship award.
"I am so proud of these young women. They have worked hard to hone their writing skills and are very deserving of the accolades," said Lloyd.
In addition to winning the state-wide team championship, Thomas Jefferson's Katrina Shauf and Maylan Maxwell were recognized as state champions in Creative Writing and Problem-Solution, respectively.
"The Quill is my favorite competition to attend all year because it allows my creativity to flow through the inspiration of a prompt that they provide," said Creative Writing State Champion Katrina Shauf.
According to Maylan Maxwell, the Problem-Solution State Champion, "It's really challenging because you are only given 90 minutes, that fly by, to complete the essay. The Quill helps me sharpen my writing and time management skills." Maxwell's category required her to spontaneously write an essay about solving a contemporary societal issue.
This year's North Carolina Quill Championship, hosted by The Contentnea-Savannah School of Kinston, awarded second place to the Simon G Atkins Academic and Technology High School of Winston Salem and third place to Ardrey Kell High School of Charlotte.