When they entered this year's Georgia Independent Schools Association Region Spring Literary Competition, students at Briarwood Academy had just one goal in mind -- winning.
And win they did.
They captured the region literary trophy this past weekend.
"We're very happy for these students and for our school," exclaimed Briarwood Academy's Kari Callaway. "We had 10 students win first place honors and two that earned second place honors. They just did great."
This same group of talented students is now preparing to compete at the state level, which will be held on Tuesday, March 16 at Valdosta State University in Valdosta.
The team consists of the following students: Adam Rutkowski, Sierra Havrilla, Savannah Carani, Newt Powell, Matthew McElveen, Adam Hardy, Eric Johnson, Dalton Banks, Taylor Newton, Taylor Rabun, Shannon Newsome, Mary Ashley Gibson, Lizzie Keen, Emily Henderson and Maggie Keene.
The following students either won in their respective division of competition or placed runners-up. They included:
Eric Johnson -- first place -- Argumentative Essay;
Emily Henderson -- first place -- Rhetorical Essay;
Maggie Keene -- first place -- Personal Essay;
Taylor Newton -- first place -- Girls' Solo;
Newt Powell -- first place -- Boys' Solo;
Adam Rutkowski -- first place -- Piano;
Shannon Newsome, Mary Ashley Gibson and Taylor Rabun -- first place -- Trio;
Matthew McElveen, Dalton Banks, Eric Johnson and Adam Hardy -- first place -- Quartet;
Eric Johnson -- first place -- National Extemporaneous Speaking;
Lizzie Keen -- second place -- Spelling; and
Sierra Havrilla and Savannah Carani -- second place --Duo Oral Interpretation.
