Student writers advance to state level JustWrite tournament

by Samantha Lumpkin 

Independence High School has proven it has an assembly of talented writers after the IHS JustWrite team earned the distinction of Overall Champion at the Regional JustWrite Tournament at Cloverleaf High School in January. Independence’s team of 12 students all qualified for the state tournament in May.

JustWrite is a writing competition program open to all public, private, parochial, charter and homeschool cohorts. The tri-state program is also run in Michigan and Pennsylvania. JustWrite’s mission is to empower the often overlooked and underappreciated voices of teen high school students and aid them, through practice and experimentation, to tell their creative stories.

The IHS JustWrite Team is composed of a Division 2 team of eleventh- and twelfth-graders and a Division 1 of ninth- and tenth-graders, and one eighth-grader. Jill Wagner, their coach, calls the teams varsity (D2) and junior varsity (D1). 

Preparation for tournaments consists of weekly practices where students practice with writing prompts from Wagner and outside resources. They also try creating new beginnings and endings to published stories. Possible genres in the competition include science fiction, fantasy, classic horror, historical fiction, realistic fiction, narrative nonfiction and mystery. 

JustWrite provides a rubric to guide students in their preparation. The works completed in three rounds of 40-minute writing sessions must exhibit a high level of sophistication ranging from prompt interpretation to theme development to structure of the narrative. Mechanic and spelling errors are allowed in the impromptu setting, however, no more than five errors should detract from the story’s clarity or reader’s understanding. “The writers share their practice writing at each meeting and we evaluate the works together – positively,” Wagner said. 

Fifteen other schools participated alongside the Independence champions at the  Cloverleaf Tournament in Seville. The Division 1 team placed second overall and an individual 8th-place award went to eighth-grader Marian Carlisle, who played above her usual dvision. Veronica Kasperski, a ninth-grader, took 11th place in Division 1. Tenth-grader Robby Kalman came in 12th place in the junior varsity division. 

The Division 2 team scored third place overall. Mae Sheehan, an eleventh-grader, was awarded fourth place in Division 2. The points accumulated by the award winners and the other eight writers on the team is what earned them the Overall Champion distinction. “The writers are all as kind-hearted as innovative; great minds,” said Wagner. 

Wagner started coaching the creative writing teams at the high school and middle school eight years ago. The retired teacher has coached Power of the Pen teams since 1985. The seventh-grade Power of the Pen team won first place at the 2025 Northern Region District 2 Tournament on Feb. 2. 

Independence Middle School Principal Jamie Vanek said, “The team’s dedication, creativity and collaborative spirit truly reflected the hard work they put into every word and idea.” 

Wagner describes her coaching opportunity as a privilege and blessing. “I want every writer to feel special about their creativity,” she said. 

Traditionally, writing competitions have been geared towards students with gifted identifications, but Wagner feels differently. Her current team has students with physical challenges and autism spectrum distinctions. She said this gives the writers a unique perspective and edge at writing creatively and exceptionally. The high school writing team will compete at the state competition May 20 at the University of Findlay. Wagner said she is hopeful to witness again the almost “spiritual” experience as her students cross the stage to accept their next awards. 

Photo caption: The 2025 JustWrite team of: Top row (l-r) Matt Liepert, Tatiana Randjelovic, Robby Kalman, Adriana Randjelovic, Veronica Kasperski, Penny McGurr and Alexandria Velez; Bottom row (l-r) Mae Sheehan, Jenna Frustaci, Samantha Kandzer, Caitlynn Barry, Marian Carlisle and Nicole Mehosky was the grand champion in the regional tournament. Photo submitted.