CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage R-9 School Foundation is pleased to announce the following winners of the Helen S. Boylan Art and Writing Contest and the Flanigan Speech Contest. Each year, participants polish their art, writing and speaking skills to participate in these spring events; the winners walking away with cash prizes.
“The Foundation is so grateful to facilitate the contests each year that showcase our high school students’ talent in the areas of art, writing and public speaking,” said Foundation Director, Crystal Brown. “Our students are incredible! Each year we are so impressed with the level of ability we witness. It is not easy to put yourself out there to be judged, and our participants handle it beautifully. As a fine arts major and former debater, I understand the pressure these kids are under, and also how that adaptation to stressful situations helps build a more confident and well-rounded individual.”
The art and writing competition is named after Helen Spradling Boylan, a Carthage native and longtime supporter of the arts and education, community beautification and causes for women and children. Mrs. Boylan’s trust is managed by members of her family, including her sister, Ida Ruth Locarni, and her daughters, Jennifer and Helen, as well as many nieces and a nephew. The Boylan Foundation’s gracious generosity has been a welcome gift that has helped nourish the creative spark of many Carthage High School students in the areas of photography, drawing, painting, 3-d art, fiction, essay and poetry.
The Flanigan family name is also synonymous with not only the Carthage community, but the spirit of generosity and promoting the growth and well-being of our students. The competition was established by John H. Flanigan in 1973, and is overseen presently by John’s grandson, Matt, and his wife Tracy. Matt and Tracy’s son, Bren, was an accomplished speaker, a fifth-generation member of the Carthage family and is presently stationed in Bangladesh as a United States Diplomat. As a former Missouri Champion in extemporaneous speaking, Bren carries on the distinguished family tradition of exceptional orators.
Thank you to not only the Boylan Foundation and Flanigan families (Matt and Tracy and David and Betsy), but to the Carthage High School art, language arts and speech faculty for the time and effort they invested in promoting these events, as well members of the counselors office and administration.
Boylan Art and Writing Contest Winners
Poetry
First place: Tug of War – Kate Wagner
Second place: Call to Change – Ethan Albrecht
Third place: A Path Lined With Thorns – Jalynn Hoover
Fiction
First place: Dearest Family – Kate Wagner
Princesses Can Only Dream – Savanna Braithwaite
Third place: DiveVentures – Sage Gonzalez
Essay – Open Subject
First place: Threads of Becoming – Hailee Bell
Second place: Stuck in the Middle – Chloe Talbott
Third place: Cerulean Eyes – Emerson Rogers
2-D Drawing
First place: Secretary Bird – Uriel Messi Perez
Second place: Sweet Treat – Kaylee Gouge
Third place: Japanese Woman – Ester Cruz Tiu
2-D Painting
First place: Etonam – Kate Wagner
Second place: Sorrow – Uriel Messi Perez
Third place: Frida Catlo – Chloe Talbott
3-D
First place: Doc – Chloe Talbott
Second place: Pegasus – Ashleigh Rowden
Third place: Be Not Afraid – Molly O’Brien
Photography
First place: Chasing the Sun – Uriel Messi Perez
Second place: Seeds of the Sun – Kaydence Marney
Inside a Balloon – Kate Wagner
Flanigan Speech Competition
Oratory/Declamation:
1st place – Ella Binney
2nd place – River McCahon
3rd place – Brooke Meeks
Sight Reading:
1st place – John Satterfield
2nd place – Ariana Hurley
3rd place – Luke Pointer
Extemporaneous Speaking:
1st place – Jonah Barrett
2nd place – Nelfis Perez
3rd place – Jaxon Wyrick
