St. Mary’s Dominican High School students Emi Lou Nathan, Tess Carriere, and Abigail Nuccio are recipients of the 2025 Achievement Awards in Writing, given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The students received the following distinctions: Emi Lou Nathan – First Class; Tess Carriere – Superior; Abigail Nuccio – Superior.

The NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing is a school-based writing program established in 1957 to encourage high school students to write and to recognize some of the best student writers in the nation. Only students who are juniors may participate. Schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, US territories, Canada, and American schools abroad are eligible to nominate students for the writing program.

This year, schools nominated 680 students. From the United States, students were nominated from 41 states and Washington, D.C. Internationally, teachers nominated students from China, Guatemala, Jordan, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand. Two to three independent judges evaluated each submission holistically on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.