12th Annual NSU Louisiana High School Essay Contest
Congratulations to the
NSU Louisiana High School Essay Contest
2020 Winners!
First Place
LaKin Ogilvie
Simpson High School
“The Giver of Gifts”
Second Place
Julia Kapusta
Mount Carmel Academy
“Louisiana—Through the Eyes of Gloria Doran”
Third Place
Abbie Butler
Pineville High School
“Looking Back and Moving Forward”
Honorable Mention
Bailee Creasey
C.E. Byrd High School
“Expansion”
Honorable Mention
Valerie Perilloux
St. Charles Catholic High School
“Memories of a Lifetime”
Honorable Mention
Dominic Ross
LSMSA
“War and Homecoming”
The 12th Annual NSU Louisiana High School Essay Contest is sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center, the NSU Office of Recruiting, the NSU Writing Project, and the College of Arts, Letters, Graduate Studies and Research at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.
For more information, contact us at folklife@nsula.edu or (318) 357-4332
Contest Winners
Congratulations to the NSU Louisiana High School Essay Contest 2020 Winners!
First Place
LaKin Ogilvie
Simpson High School
“The Giver of Gifts”
Second Place
Julia Kapusta
Mount Carmel Academy
“Louisiana—Through the Eyes of Gloria Doran”
Third Place
Abbie Butler
Pineville High School
“Looking Back and Moving Forward”
Honorable Mention
Bailee Creasey
C.E. Byrd High School
“Expansion”
Honorable Mention
Valerie Perilloux
St. Charles Catholic High School
“Memories of a Lifetime”
Honorable Mention
Dominic Ross
LSMSA
“War and Homecoming”
The 12th Annual NSU Louisiana High School Essay Contest is sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center, the NSU Office of Recruiting, the NSU Writing Project, and the College of Arts, Letters, Graduate Studies and Research at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.
First Place
Hana Le
Ruston High School
“That Gray Area: A Self Reflection on Culture and External Factors”
Second Place
Emily Savell
Grant High School
“Bayou des Glaises”
Third Place
Timmie Harris
C.E. Byrd High School
“The Dirty South”
Honorable Mention
Sydney Hedrick
Grant High School
“A Boot-Shaped Mark”
Honorable Mention
Summer Netterville
C.E. Byrd High School
“What Makes My State So Great”
First Place
Blake Ziegler
Holy Cross School
New Orleans, LA
“Chevra Thilim”
Second Place
Sarah Hendrickson
Mount Carmel Academy
New Orleans, LA
“Côte des Allemands”
Third Place
Anna Goodwin
Alexandria High School
Alexandria, LA
“The Miracle at Cabrini Hospital”
Honorable Mention
Ashley Couget
Mount Carmel Academy
New Orleans, LA
“Refuge”
Honorable Mention
Benjamin Harris Davidson
St. Paul’s School
Covington, LA
“All Hail King Rex”
First Place
Jadynn Giles
Grant High School
Pollock, LA
“‘Ripples in the Water”
Second Place
Luke Paille
St. Paul’s School
Covington, LA
“A Boy’s Never Forgotten Experiences in Louisiana”
Third Place
Bryce Moulton
Louisiana School of Math, Science, and the Arts
Natchitoches, LA
“I AM FROM” and “What Goes On In My Back Yard”
Honorable Mention
Robert Kyte
Ruston High School
Ruston, LA
“Swimming in Louisiana”
Alena Noakes
Grant High School
Dry Prong, LA
“My Poetic Soul and Its Muse”
Kelly O’Neal
Cedar Creek High School
Choudrant, LA
“The World of Cowboys”
First Place
Brant Guerin
Redemptorist High School
Greenwell Springs, LA
“‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich”
Second place
Chelsea Franklin
Crowley High School
Crowley, LA
“The Mysteries of Huey Long”
Third place
Andrea Bradley
Westminster Christian Academy
Ville Platte, LA
“A Talk with the Madam”
First Place
Angelle Nicole Williams
St. Amant High School
St. Amant, LA
“I Am Proud To Be Louisianan.”
Second place
Jacquelyn Clark
St. Mary’s High School
Natchitoches, LA
“Fact vs. Fiction: My Louisiana and the Media’s Louisiana”
Third place
Alex Thomas
Cedar Creek High School
Ruston, LA
“A Bowlful of Culture.”
Honorable Mention
Mazie DuBois
St. Mary’s High School
Natchitoches, LA
“What is Louisiana Really Like?”
Regan Edwards
Glenbrook School
Minden, LA
“More than Bonnie and Clyde”
Nathaniel Gardner
St. Mary’s High School
Natchitoches, LA
“The Mass Media’s Erroneous Portrayal of Louisiana.”
First Place
Anne Mertens
Home Study
Natchitoches, LA
“A New Life”
Second Place
Brent Charles Alexander
River Oaks School
Monroe, LA
“Cultural and Heritage Preservation and Genealogy and Ancestry Awareness”
Third Place
Ryan Moore
River Oaks School
Monroe, LA
“Preserving Louisiana Wildlife”
First Place
Saraf Ahmed
Cedar Creek School
Ruston, Louisiana
“Spider Web”
Second Place
Madeline Wagnon
Captain Shreve High School
Shreveport, Louisiana
“The Journey of a Character”
Third Place
Molly Mitchell
Cedar Creek School
Ruston, Louisiana
“An Interconnected Heartbeat”
Creative Non-fiction Category
Shelby Elise Paine
Captain Shreve High School
Shreveport, Louisiana
“Visions of Home, Louisiana, as Seen From My Childhood”
Poetry Category
Josh Farr
Saint Paul’s School
Mandeville, Louisiana
“Crawfish” and “Gumbo”
Poetry Category: Honorable Mention
Meredith McManus
Atlanta High School
Atlanta, Louisiana
“Marie Laveau”
Fiction Category
Michael Burke
Saint Paul’s School
Mandeville, Louisiana
“The Rumble”
First Place
Morgan Bollich
“Inspiration: The Beauty Within”
Eunice, Louisiana
Second Place
Savannah Kate Bridges
“Tabasco Veins, Zydeco Heartbeat”
Rayville, Louisiana
Third Place
Chuhyun Kim
“Louisiana: My Inspiration”
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Honorable Mention
Lyle Manion
“A New World”
Covington, Louisiana
Honorable Mention
Michael Sitarz
“Environmental Inspiration”
Madisonville, Louisiana
Honorable Mention
Laramie Williams
“Through the Storm, We Stood”
Natchitoches, Louisiana
1st Place – Morgan Bulliard “Mais Sha, I’m Cajun!”
2nd Place – Heath McDaniel “Live in the Sportsman’s Paradise”
3rd Place – Maria Hefte “A Diverse Heritage”
Runners Up
1st Runner Up – Kim Bassemier “Louisiana Cuisine”
2nd Runner Up – Jennifer Grunder “My Louisiana Sky”
3rd Runner Up – Duyen Tran “In Which There is a Realization of Importance”
