About the Authors

Vienna Augedahl is in third grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Vienna’s three favorite things are hunting, fishing and painting!

Ryker Bayerkohler is in sixth grade atSouthwest Middle School in Albert Lea. This is Ryker’s third time competing in this contest and his writing has been included in the SCSC writing contest anthology twice before. He likes tech, writing, video games and more! Ryker has two younger brothers. He dreams of being an engineer and/or a writer.

Ella Blexrud is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Ella’s three favorite things are art, writing and friends!

Gabe Clark is in third grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Gabe’s three favorite things are gaming, going to amusement parks and sports.

Thane Conway is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Thane’s three favorite things are hunting, fishing and sports.

Hailey Cords is in fourth grade atLakeview Elementary in Albert Lea.She is a kind and courageous girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. With big dreams, Hailey always tries to put her best foot forward in doing her best and helping others.

Gavin Denboer is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Gavin’s interests include sports, pizza and family!

Addy Doering is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary.  Addy’s three favorite things are music, basketball and soccer!

Graham Engan is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Graham’s three favorite things are art, sports and music!

Lincoln Engan is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Lincoln’s interests include sports, fishing and pizza!

Liam Erickson is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Liam’s three favorite things are reading, wrestling and football!

Jia-Xin Fan is in seventh grade atDakota Meadows Middle School in Mankato. She enjoys being a part of her school orchestra and playing the piano. Jia-Xin likes being loud with friends during track practice but also likes the peaceful silence of reading. She likes competitions because they keep her motivated and busy.

Angelo Igiraneza Ganza is in second grade at Kennedy Elementary School in Mankato. He likes basketball and soccer. In school, Angelo loves most of the subjects: reading, math, writing, drawing, etc. Angelo also makes comics. He enjoys games like Bloxels, LEGOs, Island and Blox Fruits.

Connor Goetzinger is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Connor’s three favorite things are hunting, fishing and reading!

Severin Graczyk is in seventh grade at Fairmont High School. In his freetime, he likes to play video games and watch The Walking Dead. He also enjoys his sleep. Severin has a pet rabbit named Crawley. He enjoyed writing his fiction story for this contest and changed his entire storyline to make it appropriate for all ages!

Cade Gueltzow is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Cade’s three favorite things are space, drawing and baseball!

Cheyanna Hansen is in twelfth grade at Fairmont High School. She currently works at Fareway grocery store and plans to work there after graduation this spring. Cheyanna loves spending time outdoors taking walks, going to the park and swimming at the pool. She has a dog and a cat. She was inspired to research weaving as an art after attending the Renaissance Festival with her writing class.

Zaedriel Hastings is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Zaedriel’s three favorite things are gaming, animals and plants.

Ryder Haugstad is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Ryder’s three favorite things are drawing, his parents and spaghetti!

Abby Hovendick is in fifth grade atLakeview Elementary School in Albert Lea. Abby is involved in gymnastics, safety patrol, choir, student council, Battle of the Books and Math Masters.  She loves spending time with her family and pets!

Nora Jorgensen is in twelfth grade atMinnesota Connections Academy.She is an aspiring first responder, working on her EMT and Law Enforcement Degree, while finishing her high school diploma. Nora loves martial arts as a safe way to express what she has difficulty expressing verbally. She loves to challenge herself in any and every way, looking to always improve while appreciating what she already has.

Ora Anna Ihimbazwe Kirezi is in eighth grade atPrairie Winds Middle School in Mankato. She loves art, reading and writing. Ora Anna loves listening to music and learning different languages. She is also interested in learning about various cultures and customs and wishes to travel the world someday.

Scarlett Krueger is in fourth grade at Nicollet Public School. She loves to spend time with her family, friends and animals. Scarlett has two mini rex rabbits named Smores and Cottonswab. She also has a horse named LJB. Scarlett loves to dance, draw and read. Her family includes her seven year old brother, 18-month-old brother, and her mom and dad. Her future plans are to be an art teacher and an author.

Brogan Lane is in third grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Brogan’s three favorite things are hunting, fishing and dirt bike riding.

William Lange is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Will’s interests include sports, fishing and pizza!

Elise Matney is in seventh grade at The Blake School in Hopkins. She loves to write and spends much of her summer writing stories and digging up neighborhood history. Originally from the east coast, Elise has found a love for life “Nord” (though winters can be…. long).  She appreciates the writing community she has found here and looks forward to attending writing-focused camps this summer.

Amati Ishimo Migisha is in seventh grade atPrairie Winds Middle School in Mankato. He is a very creative person. Amati likes to create stories and write comics. Another thing he enjoys doing is playing basketball. He also loves the NBA, and his favorite player is Anthony Edwards.

Claire Moore is in third grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Claire’s three favorite things are farming, reading and soccer!

Ellie Nelson is in fourth grade atLakeview Elementary in Albert Lea. She loves to read, play with her dog, Boone, make crafts and do puzzles. Ellie figure skates and plays softball. She has one younger brother named Waylon. Ellie enjoys school and tries hard to do her best at everything she does.

Henry Oakes is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Henry’s favorite things are math, soccer and family!

Kaylee O’Heron is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Kaylee’s three favorite things are soccer, gymnastics and basketball.

Joell Padilla is in fifth grade at Lakeview Elementary School in Albert Lea. Joell is a wrestler and enjoys spending time with his aunt and his grandfather. He is the hardest-working student and kind to all.

Ruben Pena is in eighth grade at Fairmont High School. He enjoys many free-time activities including writing, reading, doing math, playing with his dogs and cat, playing video games and playing basketball. Ruben enjoyed researching about food and cooking as an art form.

Freya Peterson is in seventh grade at Saint Peter Middle School. Freya has a passion for art and a love for playing the piano. She has an energetic cat and an adorable hamster. Dreaming of becoming a designer one day, Freya is filled with ambition and hopes to achieve great things in the future.

Matthew Ranzenberger is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Matthew’s three favorite things are sports, the arts and writing!

Jorden Rasche is in twelfth grade at Fairmont High School. He enjoys spending time with his mom, grandma, and cousins. Jorden enjoys getting outside and taking walks. He also enjoys watching movies with his family. His three cats keep him entertained as well. Jorden enjoyed learning about the Gutenberg Press after watching and participating in a demonstration at the Renaissance Festival in September with his writing class.

Abbigail Renaux is in eleventh grade at Alden Conger High School. She loves to write and express herself. She gets some of her ideas from her friends. Abbi hopes to continue writing and teach others after high school.

Norah Sahr is in fifth grade atLakeview Elementary in Albert Lea.She is in gymnastics, 4-H, and wants to be in track and field next year. Some of Norah’s hobbies are reading, playing video games and watching movies.

Sophia Sanderlin is in fifth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Sophia’s three favorite things are animals, school and fun!

Adalynn Schroeder is in third grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Adalynn’s three favorite things in life are writing, drawing and dogs!

Lou Senn is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Lou’s three favorite things are art, singing and basketball!

Keaton Shukis is in third grade at Caledonia Area Elementary.Keaton’s three favorite things are soccer, gaming and reading.

Riley Simon is in eighth grade at Fairmont High School. He stays active playing basketball, baseball and football. Riley enjoys spending time with his four dogs. For this writing contest, Riley chose to write about graffiti in two of his writing entries because he thinks graffiti art is pretty cool.

Callen Spear is in eighth grade at Fairmont High School. He likes fishing both by himself and sometimes with friends. Callen is on an organized 8-ball pool team where he recently won second place in a competition. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends. While preparing writing pieces for this contest, Callen discovered that he has some creative writing skills. He enjoyed writing his mystery story, but also learned he enjoys writing poetry too.

Aurora Toupin is in fourth grade atLakeview Elementary in Albert Lea. She loves projects that let her creativity and imagination flow. Aurora spends her time figure skating, being outdoors and playing with her younger sister.

Landyn Varela is in eleventh grade at Fairmont High School. In his free time he enjoys creating and viewing art. Landyn is a talented artist with drawing and sketching as his favorite art forms. He lives at home with his mom and siblings and two pet dogs. Landyn also enjoys spending time on technology and outdoors on his own.

Keyun Wu is in seventh grade atDakota Meadow Middle School in Mankato. She likes reading, math, playing soccer and hanging out with friends. Keyun likes playing cello in the Mankato Youth Symphony. Her favorite after school clubs are sports and robotics. She hopes to improve her writing skills through participating in this competition.

Jordan Wurm is in fourth grade at Caledonia Area Elementary. Jordan’s interests include sports, pizza and family!