St. Pius X Catholic High School junior Margaret Crawford of Decatur has been chosen by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) as one of its outstanding writers in the 2013 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing program. Crawford was one of three students from the state of Georgia recognized for the honor and the 38th St. Pius X student since 1969 to earn the honor.
St. Pius X English Department Chairperson Mike Scirocco said, “On behalf of the English Department, I congratulate Margaret. To be recognized by the National Council of Teachers of English as one of the best writers in the nation testifies to her intelligence, creativity, and extraordinary ability to communicate complex ideas with style and precision. This recognition of a St. Pius X student as being among the best writers in the nation is an ongoing tribute to the excellence achieved when talented students and outstanding teachers work together.”
In February, Crawford submitted a themed essay and a sample of her best writing to the NCTE. National judges evaluated that work, looking for writing that demonstrated effective and imaginative use of language to inform and move an audience. They also looked for content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style.
According to the NCTE Web site, the Achievement Awards in Writing program was established in 1957 to encourage high school students in their writing and to recognize publicly some of the best student writers in the nation. Assessments of student writing are based on students’ samples of their own best prose or verse and on impromptu themes that are written under supervision. A team of English teachers judges the entries.
More than 750 students from across the United States, Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American schools abroad were nominated to participate in the 2013 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing competition. Of that number, 155 students were selected as outstanding writers this year. The number of winners depends on how many writers were judged excellent in that particular year.