All students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade get the opportunity each year to enter into a literary competition called Young Authors. This gives the students a chance to write a story that is fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or a graphic novel.

Students can enter into more than one category or enter into all. Powell High School had students who entered and had the chance to move up to the state level. Junior Isaac Fransway, who received a state honorable mention, chose to enter a poem that he wrote this year. 

“The name of my poem was ‘Beyond the Scale,’ and it was a perspective of bullying in high school,” junior Isaac Fransway said. “The poem followed a specific character that happened to be not oversized but overweight, and it showed what it would be like to be bullied in high school for being overweight.”

In addition to this, Powell High School had a student write a graphic novel for the competition. Graphic novels include a story, but also pictures of the story. 

“The name of my graphic novel was ‘Inconvenient,’” sophomore Anika Anderson said. “And it was a catalog about everyday products that are made to inconvenience you. For example, there were sock laces, and each lace was sold separately, so it is not included. It’s just shoe laces, but for your socks.”

Each page of Anika’s graphic novel was a daily object that would be an inconvenience. Along with this, the students had reasons for why they picked the category they did. Anika finished in 1st place in the 10th grade graphic novel section.

“I chose to write a graphic novel because I had a bunch of doodles that I had already drawn,”  Anderson said. “So I just figured to throw them all in a book and submit it.”

On top of that, Fransway had his own reason for picking poetry.

“I like rhyming, and I think poetry is a little bit more unique,”  Fransway said. “I thought it would be more fun and challenging.”

As students had the opportunity to enter the young authors competition, juniors also had the chance to enter the American Dream essay contest. People who entered picked an ethic that they thought was significant to them and had an impact on their life.

If they got into the top three in the school, they would get a cash prize, with first place getting $300, second place getting $200, and third place getting $100. 

 Students winning first place would then move on to the state level, where they would have the chance to earn more money. 

Junior Brooklyn Neves won first place and chose to write about the ethic “Do what has to be done.”

“I chose this ethic because it has been one of the most difficult but rewarding ethics to implement in my life,” Neves said. “I still struggle with this some days, but I know that the best things in life don’t come easy.”

Above all, the ethic students chose to write about came with a story that changed their perspective in life.  

“My essay was about an experience that I had during calving season. It had been a long calving season with a lot of late nights,” Neves said. “The heifer ended up having a calf that needed to be pulled. If I hadn’t been checking on her, we would have lost the calf. I learned that our responsibilities are not just for our benefit. Even though I initially had a sour attitude about calving, I learned that neglecting our duties, no matter the reason, can literally cost a life.” 

As a result, Brooklyn will move on to the state level, and her essay will compete against other essays from across the state. 

“I am hopeful that my essay will do well at the state level,” Neves said. “But I know that I will be going against about thirty of the best essays across Wyoming.”