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RE students collect writing awards in La Plume Young Writers' Contest
Nine Ransom Everglades students earned recognition in the 2024 La Plume Young Writers’ Contest as Patrick Keedy Brown ’26 won the Grand Prize among high school students for his short story “Deliver Us.” It was the third straight year an RE student received the Grand Prize in the writing contest, which is open to students in Miami-Dade County, and more students were honored from RE than any other school.
Zachary Corbin-Cheah ’27 earned second place in the high school competition for his story “The World Beyond our World,” and Cecile Etzbach ’29 claimed third place in the middle school competition for “We Who Came Before.” Garrett Fox ’27 received a Special Honorary Award for high school for “The Race.”
Sophia Romanov Imber ’24, who graduated last May and earned the Grand Award in 2023, placed first in this year’s competition; entries were submitted with work from the last school year. Keedy Brown received a $350 award as a grand prize winner, and his manuscript will be published as a book. Last April, he won first prize at Poetry Night at the Barnacle.
Sophia Romanov Imber ’24, who graduated last May and earned the Grand Award in 2023, placed first in this year’s competition; entries were submitted with work from the last school year. Keedy Brown received a $350 award as a grand prize winner, and his manuscript will be published as a book. Last April, he won first prize at Poetry Night at the Barnacle.
Three RE students – Tang Li ’30, Freya Samuel ’30 and Ronja Stargala ’25 received Honorary Awards; Phaedra Haralambides ’28 won the Achievement Award for middle school and Jeffrey Tong ’28, the Encouragement Award.
Students in middle school submitted creative writing from 2,000-4,000 words in length, and students in high school submitted pieces that were 4,000-6,000 words in length. The stories were judged by professionals from the literary, educational and the art world on creativity and originality, composition and overall structure, and sentence construction and fluency.
See the full list of winners and their RE teachers below.
Grand Prize | High School
Patrick Keedy Brown ’26 – Deliver Us – Teacher: Elizabeth Cornick
First Place | High School
Sophia Romanov Imber ’24 – Katerina Never Was – Teacher: Matthew Helmers
Second Place | High School
Zachary Corbin-Cheah ’27 – The World Beyond Our World – Teacher: Elizabeth Anderson
Third Place | Middle School
Cecile Etzbach ’29 – We Who Came Before – Teacher: Cathy Kellstrom
Special Honorary Award | High School
Garret Fox ’27 – The Race – Teacher: Kathryn Bufkin
Honorary Award | Middle School
Tang Li ’30 – Mission El Dorado – Teacher: Flavia Araripe and Xuan Jiang
Freya Samuel ’30 – Love Is A Seed – Teacher: Juan Arrastia
Honorary Award | High School
Ronja Stargala ’25 – The Place – Teacher: Kira Morgan
Achievement Award | Middle School
Phaedra Haralambides ’28 – Into The Den Of The Beast – Teacher: Shaida Whitley
Encouragement Award | Middle School
Jeffrey Tong ’28 – Night Market – Teacher: Jordan Hill
Students in middle school submitted creative writing from 2,000-4,000 words in length, and students in high school submitted pieces that were 4,000-6,000 words in length. The stories were judged by professionals from the literary, educational and the art world on creativity and originality, composition and overall structure, and sentence construction and fluency.
See the full list of winners and their RE teachers below.
Grand Prize | High School
Patrick Keedy Brown ’26 – Deliver Us – Teacher: Elizabeth Cornick
First Place | High School
Sophia Romanov Imber ’24 – Katerina Never Was – Teacher: Matthew Helmers
Second Place | High School
Zachary Corbin-Cheah ’27 – The World Beyond Our World – Teacher: Elizabeth Anderson
Third Place | Middle School
Cecile Etzbach ’29 – We Who Came Before – Teacher: Cathy Kellstrom
Special Honorary Award | High School
Garret Fox ’27 – The Race – Teacher: Kathryn Bufkin
Honorary Award | Middle School
Tang Li ’30 – Mission El Dorado – Teacher: Flavia Araripe and Xuan Jiang
Freya Samuel ’30 – Love Is A Seed – Teacher: Juan Arrastia
Honorary Award | High School
Ronja Stargala ’25 – The Place – Teacher: Kira Morgan
Achievement Award | Middle School
Phaedra Haralambides ’28 – Into The Den Of The Beast – Teacher: Shaida Whitley
Encouragement Award | Middle School
Jeffrey Tong ’28 – Night Market – Teacher: Jordan Hill
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.