Turner Center announces student winners in the 5th Annual “Art of Writing” Contest
Published 7:56 am Monday, March 24, 2025
Submitted photo: 220 students, parents, family members, friends, teachers, and supporters gather at the Art of Writing Awards Reception to support and honor the 156 participants in the 5th Annual Art of Writing Contest.
Submitted photo: Some of the winners and honorable mentions in the middle school categories of the 5th Art of Writing Contest! Left to right: Turner Center Art Education Administrator Hailey Rathmann, Midde School Fiction 2nd place winner Leslie Cate Rathmann, Middle School Nonfiction Honorable Mention Albert Kim, Turner Center Executive Director Sementha Mathews, Ph.D., Middle School Poetry 2nd place winner Katelynn Kinney, Middle School Poetry Honorable Mention Sabra Martin, Middle School Nonfiction Honorable Mention Avery Thacker, Middle School Fiction 3rd place winner Bailey Daniels, and Young Writers League Instructor Dr. Cheryl Carvajal.
Submitted photo: Some of the winners and honorable mentions in the high school categories of the 5th Art of Writing Contest! Left to right: Turner Center Art Education Administrator Hailey Rathmann, Turner Center Executive Director Sementha Mathews, Ph.D., High School Poetry 1st place winner Tessa Tillman, High School Poetry 2nd place winner Zyan Williams, High School Poetry 3rd place winner Akeela Grier, High School Fiction 1st place winner Katelynne Thomas, High School Fiction Honorable Mention Emmerson Shiver, High School Nonfiction 1st place winner & High School Fiction Honorable Mention Grace Earls, and Young Writers League Instructor Dr. Cheryl Carvajal.
Submitted photo: 5th Annual Art of Writing Contest participant Nandini Thanki, Valdosta High School 11th Grade, presents her work at the Art of Writing Awards Reception.
Submitted photo: Annual Art of Writing Contest participant Hailey Foster, Pine Grove Middle School 7th Grade, presents her work at the Art of Writing Awards Reception.
VALDOSTA — The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts and its Young Writers League (YoWL) presented the winners of the 5th Annual “Art of Writing” Contest at a March 17 awards reception held in the art galleries.
Middle and high school students in south Georgia and the surrounding areas competed in the free contest that resulted in 156 written works focused on this year’s theme, “Courage,” and for $3,000 in cash prizes and publishing awards. Sponsors and partners for the contest include the Georgia Council for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Greater Valdosta United Way, Valdosta Daily Times, Snake Nation Press, and South Georgia Regional Library.
“Young people who possess good writing skills will often become better communicators in other areas of expression,” said Turner Center Executive Director Sementha Mathews, Ph.D. “Our goal for all our youth programs is to enrich and educate our young people through the arts, and we congratulate the brave students who embraced this opportunity.”
Winners and honorable mentions of the 5th Annual “Art of Writing” Contest are as follows:
Middle School
Nonfiction
Colton Kalinowski, St. John the Evangelist Catholic School 7th Grade, “The Courage for Non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi” – 1st place
Toa Wortman-Paredes, St. John the Evangelist Catholic School 7th Grade, “Gandhi Essay” – 2nd place
Avery Thacker, Pine Grove Middle School 7th Grade, “Written Courage” – 3rd place
Bailey Hamilton, St. John the Evangelist Catholic School 7th Grade, “Mahatma Gandhi’s Courage” – Honorable mention
Albert Kim, Hahira Middle School 6th Grade, “The Puppet” – Honorable mention
Fiction
Keria Burgess, Pine Grove Middle School 8th Grade, “The Edge of Silence”— 1st place
Leslie Cate Rathmann, Rathmann Homeschool 7th Grade, “The Girl of Courage” – 2nd place
Bailey Daniels, Heritage Elementary School 5th Grade, “Courage vs. Colorism” – 3rd place
Rashaun Blankumsee Jr., Valdosta Early College Academy 8th Grade, “Ally to the World’s Cry” – Honorable mention
Shea McCoy, Pine Grove Middle School 6th Grade, “Worst Day Ever” – Honorable mention
Poetry
Michaelah Ferguson, Valdosta Early College Academy 8th Grade, “Why a Free Birds Dances: A twist on Maya Angelou ‘Why the Caged Bird Sings’” — 1st place
Katelynn Kinney, Highland Christian Academy 7th Grade, “A Courageous Dawn” – 2nd place
Jack Rados, Homeschool 5th Grade, “Courage” – 3rd place
Hailey Krawiec, Pine Grove Middle School 8th Grade, “Courage” – Honorable mention
Sabra Martin, Moulton Branch Elementary School 5th Grade, “Overcome” – Honorable mention
High School
Nonfiction
Grace Earls, Homeschool 10th Grade, “What is Courage?” — 1st place
Haley Hardy, Valwood School 11th Grade, “Selfish Turns into Courageous” – 2nd place
Brandon Meriweather, Valdosta Early College Academy 9th Grade, “The Courage of the Enslaved” – 3rd place
Hadlei Green, Tift County High School 9th Grade, “The Unseen Seer” – Honorable mention
Fiction
Katelynne Thomas, Lowndes High School 11th Grade, “The Bird Men”— 1st place
Layla Mials, Tift County High School 11th Grade, “The Heart of Many Thorns” – 2nd place
Katie Min, Valwood School 11th Grade, “Sand Castle” – 3rd place
Grace Earls, Homeschool 10th Grade, “Home Was Never Far Away” – Honorable mention
Emmerson Shiver, Lowndes High School 10th Grade, “Freeridge Freedom” – Honorable mention
Poetry
Tessa Tillman, Lowndes High School 9th Grade, “What Waits in the Mirror” — 1st place
Zyan Williams, Scintilla Charter Academy 9th Grade, “Courage Caused Change” – 2nd place
Akeela Grier, Brooks County High School 10th Grade, “A Form of Courage”– 3rd place
Isabella Hayes, Valwood School 11th Grade, “The Weight We Carry” – Honorable mention
Rasheedat Agboola, Lowndes High School 11th Grade, “Courage” – Honorable mention
Artists
Artists whose work was selected from the annual Valdosta State University High School Invitational Exhibition at the Turner Center are listed below. Their art works will appear in the anthology, along with the written works.
Tristan Von Chamier, SAIL High School 12th Grade, “Concrete Oblivion”
Sarah Grayce Culpepper, Tiftarea Academy 9th Grade, “Intimidation”
Morganna Donathan, Valdosta High School 12th Grade, “Cancer is a Burden”
Ruby Hewett, Coffee High School 12th Grade, “Moses Parting the Red Sea”
Brionna Waeschle-Hilbert, Brooks County High School 12th Grade, “Writing on the Wall”
Jacob Hutchings, Thomas County Central High School 11th Grade, “Jacob Lawrence”
Klay Ladson, Berrien High School 11th Grade, “Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston”
Avri McMillan, Berrien High School 12th Grade, “Fear”
Emmerson Shiver, Lowndes County High School 11th Grade, “Under the Sea”
Evelyn Velazquez, Dougherty Comprehensive High School 12th Grade, “0112”
The selected students will be published in and receive a free copy of the 5th Annual “Art of Writing” Contest Anthology, a publication by Snake Nation Press. Additional copies of the anthology will be for sale, $10 each, in the Turner Center’s Gift Shop by May 2025. Copies of the anthology will also be donated to South Georgia Regional Library, making the book available for checkout statewide through the Georgia public library system.
“The work of these youth authors and artists is truly remarkable,” said Turner Center Art Education Administrator Hailey Rathmann. “The anthology will be a moving book, full of the original thoughts and ideas of our area students on the ways courage has been demonstrated in the past and is needed in the world today. We encourage everyone to purchase a copy as a reminder of the bravery of these students in sharing their thoughts with the public.”
The contest was judged by professionals from Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta State University, the Lowndes-Valdosta Art Commission Board, and other local writers. The Center thanks Michael Antonoff, Unoma Azuah, Brittanye Blake, Thressea Boyd, Dr. Cheryl Carvajal, Jahmal Council, Matt Flummerfelt, Dr. Deborah Hall, Miriam Jackson, Dr. Emma Kostopolus, Dean Poling, Dr. Ryan Wander, and Levi White for their critical contribution to the contest.
“We hope that next year’s contest includes such a creative and meaningful collection from middle and high school writers in all our local schools,” said Carvajal. “This year’s participants showed so much talent in expressing themselves while presenting their work at the awards reception.”
YoWL, led by Carvajal, allows students ages 11-17 to express themselves through written word, improve their writing skills, and pursue authorship. The group meets bi-monthly in person at the Center and online through Discord app. Carvajal also leads the Writers League for ages 18+, which meets weekly at the Center and online through the Discord app. All the Center’s literary arts offerings are free.
The theme and deadline for the 6th Annual “Art of Writing” Contest will be announced at the Turner Center’s Annual Literary Fair on Sept. 13. For more information, visit turnercenter.org, or contact Art Education Administrator Hailey Rathmann at (229) 247-2787 or hrathmann@turnercenter.org.
