Granite City School District 9 Announces Young Authors Winners

GRANITE CITY – Granite City Community Unit School District #9 has announced the District Young Authors winners for the 2025-26 school year.

The Young Author competition is open to all student’s kindergarten through 8th grade. After receiving student submissions, each building selects a number of winners based on their school population.

From the individual building winners, entries advanced to the district-level judging. Maryville Elementary School Principal Dr. Liz Niepert serves as GCSD9’s Young Author coordinator. Forty volunteers — including student judges — came together to evaluate the submissions at the district competition.

In total, 38 winners were selected to represent GCSD9 and will be invited to attend the Madison County Young Author Conference on April 18.

Each spring the Madison County Regional Office of Education recognizes Young Authors winners in grades K-8 from Madison County schools at a county-wide conference. Students have the opportunity to share their books with each other, participate in reading/writing centric activities and be entertained by a local author, storyteller or performer.

The 35th annual Madison County Young Authors Conference will be held on Saturday, April 18 at Granite City High School. Congratulations to our District winners!

Maryville Elementary

Wes Kosydor - Dragon

Lincoln Kimmel - Lincoln & Tony's Monster Truck Adventure

Savannah Pellazari - The Haunting on Redwood Street

Cristian Escalet - Trip to Guatemala

Antwon Scott - Human vs Zombies "The Final Hearing of Jackson"

Wilson Elementary

Mason Paterson - The Beach Day I’ll Never Forget

Darrianna Brockman - The Celestial City

Mitchell Elementary

Arlyn Monroe - The Mysterious Campfire

Emmett Neuling - Old Faithful

Lukas Messick - Those Who Remain

Frohardt Elementary

Thelonious Mueller - Kéyah

Emery Corzine - Remi

Arianna Elliott - The Big Flower

Winston Evans - The Golden Banana Tree

Christian Elliott - How I Learned About Different Countries

Logan Sampson - The Last Box on Valentine's Day

Prather Elementary

Ava Ortiz - The Best Dream Ever

Cora Pointer - Runner the Baby Kitty

Joel Linares Rivera - Canto' del Grillito y la Flor Mágica

Ahri Whalen - The Old Man that Never Left Home

Mackenzie Hart - The Skating Game

Benjamin Ortiz - Benhu Boy to the Rescue

Grigsby Elementary

Isla Tyler - The Best Fairy Tale Ever

Grayson Bishop - Spider Adventure

Kendall Stewart - New Friends

Adrian Canales Rojas - A Field Trip to the Amusement Park

Connor Stewart - The Underground Forest

Ayden Johnson - The Amazing, Super Great, Scary Adventure of Supa-Pugg

Maya Schillinger - Whispers in the Woods

Zariyah Sims - The Sleepover Horrors

Daniel Bautista - Sanchez- Los Oficios de Casa

Aiden Williams - Bears

Coolidge Junior High School

Searrah Tyler - A Miracle from Heaven

Tyler Cook - Timmy the Teen!

Dallon Adkins - The Missing Prince

Zayden Perry - The Great Musical Chase

Maisie Curran - Little Worlds

Gabriel Wiscarson - David and the Egg

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