Mount Notre Dame held its sixth annual Thomas Geier Creative Writing Contest on March 10 and March 11. The contest, which seeks to reward and encourage creative writing among eighth grade students entering MND in the fall, is named in honor of former MND faculty member and current Board member, Mr. Thomas Geier.  In his 39 years at MND, Mr. Geier served as the English Department Chair and taught a wide range of classes, including AP English, British Literature and Creative Writing.  He also served as MND’s Academic Dean and co-authored several plays that have been performed by the MND Theatre group.

This year, a record number of participants chose from several writing prompts and were allowed up to 90 minutes to complete their work. Judges looked for inventive and entertaining content as well as skillful use of language. Grace Shelton (St. Gabriel Consolidated School) was named the first place winner and Lilian Shoemaker (St. Ignatius) and Johanna Keller (St. Jude) both received honorable mentions. All three girls received a tuition award.

“This is the sixth year for our contest, and every year it is a ‘win’ not only for the participants, but also for MND’s Creative Writing class which helps in the judging,” noted Mr. Geier.