2008-2009 Ohio Letters About Literature

Ohio Letters About Literature winners, finalists, and semi-finalists were recognized at the Ohioana Book Festival on Saturday, May 9, 2009. Congratulations to all whose letters advanced through the first round of judging position of the competition! 

Over 2,300 Ohio students (grade 4 – 12) entered the 2008/09 Letters About Literature contest. From those 164 entries advanced from the first round judging to the State Judging. Eighteen letters (six in each category) advanced to the semi-finalist level.

The letters of Ohio’s first place winners advanced to National Level Judging. Each Ohio winner received a $100 cash award, a $50 Target giftcard, a $40 Joseph-Beth Booksellers giftcard, and a year’s membership to the Ohioana Library. 

The Ohio winners are: 

Level I:       Trevor Levin, Birchwood School in Cleveland (pictured above with Ohio's First Lady, Frances Strickland and Level II winner Emily Hansen

Level II:       Emily Hansen, Berlin-Milan Middle School in Berlin Heights (pictured with Ohio's First Lady, Frances Strickland and Level I winner Trevor Levin).

Level III:       Hannah Weinberger, Laurel School in Shaker Heights.

 The finalists are:

Level I:

Paige Worley, St. Charles Borromeo School, Kettering

Natalie Zeigler, St. Joseph School, Cuyahoga Falls

Level II:

Isaak Willett, Ridge Junior School, West Chester

Jenna Bellassai, Individual Entry, Mentor

Level III:

Ellen Hamrick, Westerville North High School, Westerville

Roberto Córdova, Toledo Early College High School, Toledo

The Ohio Semi-finalists are:

Level I:

Hannah Yahraus, Birchwood School, Cleveland

Colette Frommeyer, St. Brigid of Kildare School, Dublin

Sumita Roy, Birchwood School, Cleveland

Level II:

Hailey Barr, Ridge Junior School, West Chester

Kyle Kronen, Ford Middle School, Brook Park

Victoria Serrano, W. S. Guy Middle School, Youngstown

Level III:

Katherine O’Reilly, Individual Entry, Maumee

Nicole Edwards, Madison Junior Senior High School, Dayton

Kaley Dunigan, Mount Vernon Academy, Mount Vernon

Read the 18 semifinalist letters by clicking here:

 http://www.ohiocenterforthebook.org/files/LAL_2009_Booklet.pdf

The remaining Level I First Round Advancers: 

Teja Atluri, Christine M. Bashour, Marla Bashour, Anna Byrne, Sebastian A. Deak, Sachi Gosain, Noah Goss, Kiera Gran, Peter Abou Haidar, Lauren Hicks, Amy Hu, Alexandra Isherwood, Lilah Kalfus, Matthew Kramer, Rebecca Kuss, Alex Laikos, Zoe Manoukian, Kaitlin Mullahey, Kevin Mullin, Jeanette Ogden, John Pirrmann, Taylor Potter, Alex Rabe, Bayley Reed, Ben Rohrer, Morgan Sheets, Gabe Skora, Jacob Stopiak, Anthony Truman, Sophia Wible, and Patrick Young. 

The remaining Level II First Round Advancers: 

Jack Alpert, Meena Bansal, Rebekah Bolser, Avery Borchers, Gabrielle Boyce, Alex Ciccarello, Lora Clinard, Andrew Collins, Lauren Crooks, Brock DeAngelo, Kate Easton, Courtney Edgerton, Kayla Entsminger, Savanna Fair, Alyssa Frederick, Maria Fu, Sarah Gatchel, Melinda Glass, Kayla Hanson, Rachel Harnichar, David Heming, Rachel Huntley, Andee Johns, Christopher Ketchum, Brooklyn Kramer, Adam Kranbuhl, Danielle Lambright, Sophia Lombardi, Lily Mann, Joe Marshall, Caleb Mayer, Kristin McCarthy, Julia Mitchell, Gus Mitchem, Griffin Moore, Eve O'Brien, Micaela Ostheimer, Zach Otto, Anna Paumier, Maya Prabhu, Meredith Rintoul, Hannah Rossio, Rachel Rozler, Forest Runnels, Catherine Rycerz, Courtney Sabo, Sarah Salyers, Andrew Schgmalz, Gabby Smith, Marina Stanovska, Zach Vaughn, Katrina Walker, Brittney Whittake, Lauren Williams, Brittney Williams, Meggie Zahreis, and Amanda Zeidler. 

The remaining Level III First Round Advancers: 

Chase Atherton, Paulina Berkovich, Averie Bornhorst, Alan Bower, Melanie Bruno, Jason Bury, Claudia Carrelli, Brianna Chandler, Aubrey Lyn Cole, Teia L. Crawl, Kristin Drees, Nicole Ehleringer, Brianne Ellis, Kristen N. Fairchild, Lindsey Freson, Natalie Frey, Reed Gesbesick, Allison Gray, Kaylyn Green, Valerie Grosso, Ryan J. Haddad, Brittnee Halpin, Marya Hawk, Yeji Hong, Sabrina Jackson, Courtney Jones, Jennifer Jones, Emily Kaiser, David Kang, Katie Keiser, Kerry Keys, Mallory Kuhr, Lamarae Lusane, Cassandra Maxwell, Ashley McNutt, Brittany Minnich, Alana Moncman, Shannon Myers, Anthony Nicol, Nayeli Parga, Candace Polley, Stephanie Rice, Joseph Rooney, Rachel Sahr, Chris Sarria, Mary Schulze, Katelyn Shaferly, Deborah Singer, Marlesia Smith, Anna Claire Spittler, Shriya Srinivasan, Leah Stern, Brittany Stevens, Michelle Thomas, Jo Thompson, Chelsea Vogelbacher, Kaley Weber, and Dakota Williams.

Congratulations to all! We salute the 2,309 Ohio students who participated in this year’s contest.