Youngclaus Creative Writing Awards Announced
This year’s Bill Youngclaus Creative Writing Award recipients were announced at an end-of-year dedication ceremony.
Winners are chosen from each division. Representing the Lower School, the winner is third-grade student Iona Riggsbee for her poem “Reflection”. Iona is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carolyne Davidson and Ken Riggsbee. Representing the Middle School, the winner is sixth-grade student Abigail Schupp for her poem “In the Mirror”. Abigail is the daughter of Lt. Col. Phillip and Mrs. Stacy Schupp of Whispering Pines. Representing the Upper School, the winner is 11th-grade student Charlotte Mills for her poem “Voyager Golden Reflections”. Charlotte is the daughter of Mr. Stuart Mills and Mrs. Helen Probst-Mills of Pinehurst.
Winners were awarded a medal and a monetary award, courtesy of the Bill Youngclaus Memorial Fund.
The Bill Youngclaus Creative Writing Award was established in the Spring of 2007. The award recognizes a student in each division exhibiting exemplary skills in creative writing while honoring its namesake, Bill Youngclaus. Mr. Youngclaus was an O’Neal parent, school trustee, and avid writer himself.
Written by his wife, Lisa Youngclaus, the following was recited upon presenting the first awards:
“This award was created out of the generosity of many friends and family members who chose to honor their fond memories of Bill Youngclaus by making a memorial donation to The O’Neal School.
Bill Youngclaus was a brilliant, creative, talented man who attended Yale University on a full academic scholarship and graduated with an English degree. He pursued a successful career in the advertising business and lived and worked all over the world, mastering four different languages and assimilating many cultures and ideas. But the language he loved most was the language of the written word. He read novels, plays, and poetry and he wrote fiction and poetry throughout his life.
Bill loved The O’Neal School for its high academic standards, its devoted faculty, and the loving, caring environment the School provided for his young son, Will ‘12. Bill served passionately on the O’Neal Board and dreamed of the School being able to fulfill all of Will’s dreams and the dreams of all the other students that call O’Neal their home.”
Those who support creative writing may donate to the Bill Youngclaus Memorial Fund. Email giving@onealschool.org.
The poem or prose of each of the award winners is exhibited in “Blackbird’s Eye”, the School’s annual literary magazine celebrating its 50th year. This year’s “Blackbird’s Eye” was dedicated to Upper School Division Assistant Stephanie Ames.
Blackbird's Eye
The O'Neal School
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