Bigfork High School juniors honored for their writing

Taylor Peck never really considered herself a good writer — that is, until she won $200 for a short story she submitted to the Authors of the Flathead Contest.

“I always thought of myself as more of a math and science person,” she said.

Peck was just one of over a dozen junior English students from Bigfork High School who were honored for their writing this year.

Peck and classmate Cody Dopps earned second and third place honors, respectively, in the Letters about Literature Contest sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Humanities Montana. In that contest, students write reflective letters to book authors.

Both Peck and Dopps wrote to Stanley Gordon West about his novel “Blind Your Ponies.” The book follows the story of a Class C basketball team that, after suffering a 96-game losing streak, rallies to win the state title.

Peck said the story reminded her of the Bigfork High School football team’s real-life state-championship run last fall, so she chose to explore that link in her letter.

“I really connected with the author, so it was easy and fun to write,” Peck said of the letter.

Students Amber McDaniel and Hannah-Laura Rudolph received Honorable Mentions for their Letters about Literature submissions.

McDaniel received national attention for a poem she submitted to the annual PTA Reflections Poetry Contest.

When she heard the theme for this year’s contest — “Together We Can” — McDaniel said she immediately knew what she was going to write about.

McDaniel grew up acting in the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre, and she said the group always felt like a family.

“We had to come together and put on a show in just three weeks,” she said.

McDaniel’s poem placed first at the state competition and was sent to the national competition, where it is currently being judged.

Peck was also honored for her Reflections poem, which placed second at the state level.

McDaniel, who has already written a novel and has begun work on several others, said she has tossed around the idea of pursuing a career in writing, but she isn’t dead set on it quite yet.

Whatever the future holds, McDaniel said she plans to keep writing as a hobby.

“I want to continue writing. It’s what I love to do,” she said.

That is exactly the attitude Mary Sullivan, the junior English teacher at BHS, likes to see in her students.

Sullivan said she is continually impressed by her students’ willingness to push themselves as writers.

“Of course, all high school students know how to write, but when you work to improve your writing, it’s very hard work,” she said.

Their effort paid off in April, when BHS was notified that the school’s junior class scored higher on the Montana University System Writing Assessment than any Class AA or Class A school in the state of Montana. They placed second among Class B schools.

The assessment was designed to test students’ readiness for college. It is scored on a six-point scale.

Seven Bigfork juniors earned scores of 5.5 or higher: Peck, McDaniel, Dillon Fraley, Zoe Gaiser, Curtis Jochen, Brennen Shaw and Thomas Olson.

McDaniel, Peck and Olson received perfect sixes.

Sullivan said the MUSWA results are a testament to the quality of education provided by Bigfork Schools.

“Kids receive more individual attention in a school of our size,” said Sullivan.

Other award winners from Bigfork’s junior class include Rebecca Sewell and Jeanie Schenck, who represented BHS at the divisional competition for the Poetry Out Loud Contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

McDaniel also competed in Poetry Out Loud and went on to represent BHS at the state competition in Helena.

 In the Voice of Democracy Contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, junior Sara Keenan took home top honors, and classmates Ian Lorang and Melissa VanDerveer placed second and third, respectively.