The National Council of Teachers of English awarded three Oyster Bay high schoolers in the 2025 Achievement Awards in Writing contest.
Students Giovanna Lisa, Mosie Bradley and Riley Baehr each received recognition from the council after high school English teacher Deirdre Faughey nominated them for the competition.
“I selected these essays because the students clearly put in the effort to produce their best writing,” Faughey said. At the high school, Faughey leads the Quill & Scroll student journalism honor society and the Thomas Pynchon Literary Society, which is Oyster Bay’s chapter of the National English Honor Society.
She said in both of these societies, she asked students to respond to the council’s essay prompt, which was to examine how literature heals.
The national competition received 680 nominations, which were judged by a panel of two to three independent judges. The judges assessed the essays based on qualities like content, tone, organization, and development, the school district said.
The council awarded students’ distinctions in four central categories: First Class, Superior, Excellent and Merit. This year, Lisa earned Superior, Bradley earned Excellent and Baehr earned Merit.
Lisa said she took the opportunity to write about two books that changed her perspective: “Where the Crawdads Sing,” by Delia Owens and “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr.
“The impact that these two novels have had on my life is enormous, and my connection to reading has grown as a result, to the point where their influence on me needs to be shared through this essay,” she said.
Bradley wrote about how his relationship with literature has changed over time and how books have influenced him as he has grown up.
“I was drawn to this topic because I feel that I have always related my experiences to books and other media in order to understand them, and it was interesting to reflect on how that relation has evolved over time,” he said.
Baehr said she focused on a graphic novel, titled “Nimona,” in her submission, which played a big role in her life in her early teenage years.
Despite writing about different things, the students all agreed on one thing: receiving the award instilled a sense of confidence in their work.
“As a writer, it is extremely validating to hear that your work has won an award,” Baehr said.
Lisa said that she typically writes fiction and poetry, and has never delved into personal narrative before, while Bradley said he typically writes research. Both of them said the recognitions validated their ventures into a new genre.
All three students said their English courses have taught them how to be analytical and to dig for the deeper meaning in a text, a takeaway which Faughey said is exactly her goal.
“I hope that my students develop critical thinking skills as well as a sense that literature can be healing and powerful,” Faughey said.
