The winning pieces were among more than 50 submitted for the annual competition, with categories ranging from poetry and short fiction to argumentative and narrative writing, general research and literary analysis.
“This ceremony is an opportunity for the learning community at Daytona State to come together in celebration of the talents and success of our students and their faculty mentors,” said Donna Mixon, chair of the Outstanding Writing Awards Committee.
The writing competition was spearheaded four years ago by English Prof. Richard Vollaro.
English Prof. Richard Kraskin, who was master of ceremonies for the event, said student writings were submitted to the awards committee judges by faculty. Names of the authors were removed prior to submittal. “We asked them to provide us with what they believed to be excellent examples of student work,” he said, “whether it be something that was done for a class assignment or personal work the students have shared with their professor.”
Certificates were presented to the top three finishers in each category. First-place award winners also received a $25 tuition and book voucher from the DSC Foundation. Students had the opportunity to read their work to family, friends and faculty who attended the ceremony in the Hosseini Center on the Daytona Beach Campus. A book compiling the work of the competition’s top entries will be available in the DSC library.
Dr. Evan Rivers, chair of the School of Humanities and Communication, closed the ceremony by affirming the importance of writing and acknowledging the department’s faculty. “Thank you to all of those English faculty who work day after day, week after week, to support, to cajole and to inspire our students to learn how to express themselves more effectively and to help develop their writing skills.”
The top three winners in each category were:
| Poetry | Student | Title | Submitting Professor |
| 1st Place | Ciara Prendergast | "Gullible Heartbreak" | Richard Vollaro |
| 2nd Place | Deborah Jones | "Silver Sharp" | Jill Clark |
| 3rd Place | Grady DiGiovanni | "Piece of Me" | Jill Clark |
| Narrative | |||
| 1st Place | Sarah Dodge | "Iron Duckling" | Sally McGhee |
| 2nd Place | Valerie Nadeau | "Poor but Still Rich" | Richard Vollaro |
| 3rd Place | Glenda Parson | "Driving for Dummies" | Patricia Vetter |
| Literature Analysis | |||
| 1st Place | Michael Said | "Mayberry to Ferguson" | Lynn Hawkins |
| 2nd Place | Phyllis Moten | "Reaping What You Sow!" | Judith Isakson |
| 3rd Place | Emily Linton | "Psych: A Case of Solving Our Detached World" | Harun Thomas |
| Argumentative | |||
| 1st Place | Alexandria Fuller | "The Two Chairs through the Artist's Eyes" | Donna Mixon |
| 2nd Place | Donald Schmidt | "Disciplinary Reaction" | Richard Vollaro |
| 3rd Place | Sadie Cooke | "Virtual School: Close, but No Cigar" | Brian Lysholm |
| Research | |||
| 1st Place | Mishelle Yelverton | "Happy Little Trees" | Richard Vollaro |
| 2nd Place | Anita Smith | "The Balance of Wildlife and Urban Development" | Richard Vollaro |
| 3rd Place | Emily Dias | "Obesity" | Judith Isakson |
| Short Fiction | |||
| 1st Place | Deborah Jones | "9 to 5" | Jill Clark |
| 2nd Place | Kirsten Cooper | "Toothbrush" | Michelle Lee |
| 3rd Place | Sierra Bowles | "The Cabin in the Woods" | Jill Clark |
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