A pair of Free State High School students are among the nation’s best writers.

The National Council of Teachers of English recently announced that essays submitted by Alexandra Lesnikowski and Marissa Massoni were among the 628 worthy of the group’s annual Achievement Awards in Writing.

“This is a top honor,” said Craig Hershiser, co-chairman of the English Department at Free State.

Nationally, the contest is limited to about 2,400 high-school juniors who are nominated by their teachers. Nominees submit a sample of their best prose or verse and take part in a supervised contest in which they are given two hours to write an impromptu essay on one of two undisclosed topics.

The topics for 2005 were cell-phone use in schools and teen obesity.

Lesnikowski picked obesity, Massoni chose cell-phone use.

Free State high school seniors Marissa Massoni, seated, and Alexandra Lesnikowski are among eight Kansas students honored by the National Council of Teachers of English as outstanding writers in the 2005 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing.

Massoni’s essay is posted on www.ljworld.com. Lesnikowski didn’t have a copy of her essay. Instead, she posted a copy of a paper she wrote on getting along with her younger sister.

Lesnikowski said she intends to pursue a career in international relations. She’s applied to six colleges, including Mount Holyoke, Smith College and Washington University.

Massoni is less certain. “Right now, my passion is ceramics,” she said. She’s applied to Lake Forest College, McAllister College and Kansas University.

“Writing is too agonizing a process for me to be a writer,” Massoni said. “I’m too much of a perfectionist. My success, I think, has been in spite of rather than because of myself.”

She added, “But I’ve contemplated becoming a journalist.”

Asked to list their most influential teachers, both in separate interviews cited Free State English teacher Mary Chapman.

“Her ‘Epic Traditions’ class – it’s on classic literature and Greek and Roman mythology – was the best course I’ve ever had,” Massoni said. “I learned a tremendous amount.” She also mentioned Free State teacher Theresa Martin.

• “Three Generations of Anxious Women” by Marissa Massoni
• “No! You Can’t Have My Skirt!” by Alexandra Lesnikowski

Lesnikowski cited Don Schawang, her ninth-grade English teacher at Seabury Academy. “He showed me how to organize my thoughts and structure a paper,” she said. “Without the fundamental knowledge he provided, I wouldn’t be able to write.” She also cited Free State teacher Sam Rabiola.

In Kansas, eight students’ essays were cited for excellence.

“Two of eight were from Free State, two were from Blue Valley North (Overland Park),” Hershiser said.

The others, according to the National Council of Teachers of English’s Web site, were from:

¢ Blue Valley High School, Stilwell

¢ Blue Valley Northwest High School, Overland Park

¢ Topeka High School, Topeka

¢ Wichita Collegiate School, Wichita.

“Only the very best papers are recognized,” said council spokeswoman Marcia Loeschen. Entries were fielded from high schools in all 50 states, Canada, Virgin Islands and American schools overseas.