On Saturday, January 31, the halls of Xenia High School were filled with the imagination and creativity of young writers from across the region! We were proud to host the Southwest Ohio Regional JustWrite Tournament, welcoming ten high school and three middle school teams for a day of intense literary competition.

Twelve Xenia High School writers represented our home team, as they competed in three 45-minute rounds where students crafted original short stories across various genres—all without the help of technology. From captivating prose to original poetry, the tournament showcased the depth and versatility of our students' writing..

Meet the XHS Writing Team: 

• Division I: Madison Estep, Braxton Frauman, Kaiya Gaines, Adyson Linsenbigler, Lily Naylor, and Harley Neal
• Division II: Violet Black, Matthew Combs, Abigail Hutchins, Aiva McGrew, Elle Severt, and Ava Wellman.

Highlights & State Qualifiers
Division I Team placed 2nd overall at the tournament!

Several of our writers have officially punched their tickets to the state tournament in May:

• Ava Wellman (Senior): Won the prestigious Laureate's Choice Award for her poem, "Night's Unforgiving Grip." She moves on to compete for special poetry honors at State.
• Adyson Linsenbigler (Freshman): Placed 1st overall in Division I with a "clean sweep," winning first place in every single writing round.
• Abigail Hutchins (Senior): Placed 11th overall in Division II.
• Braxton Frauman (Sophomore): Placed 15th overall in Division I.

Ultimately, 10 students qualified for state: Violet Black, Braxton Frauman, Kaiya Gaines, Abigail Hutchins, Adyson Linsenbigler, Aiva McGrew, Lily Naylor, Harley Neal, Elle Severt, and Ava Wellman.

Congratulations to Adyson Linsenbigler, Abigail Hutchins, Braxton Frauman, Elle Severt, Lily Naylor, and Aiva McGrew! Each of these writers earned 1st place in at least one individual round, meaning their stories will now be considered for professional publication.

A Community Effort
An event of this scale is a team sport, and we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this day a success:

• Peter and Pam Julian and the Xenia Community Schools Foundation.
• The Friends of the Greene County Public Library, who donated 200 novels so every student went home with a new book.
• Our ROTC cadets who volunteered as student couriers. 
• Our poetry judges (Suzanne Ascoli, Lauren Smallwood, Bethany Suttles, and Vicki Wilson) and alum Erin Kelly for emceeing the poetry slam.
• Sweets Boutique (catering)

View photos in  the online gallery. 

📷 Mrs. Burgess