The North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities held the second annual The Quill on demand writing competition this past Saturday, hosted by Lexington Senior High School. Finishing in first place with a final score of 90.5 was Atkins A&T High School.  Team members for Atkins A&T High School were Meredith Hemphill, D'Bravius Blackwell, Keshaunna Goode, and Tumi Mabaso. 

Finishing close behind in second place was Lexington Senior High School with 89.7 points. Finishing in third place with 85.8 points was Newton Conover High School. Myers Park High School and WH Page High School rounded out the top five.
The following winners were also recognized in the individual events:
  • Meredith Hemphill of Atkins A&T HS in the Argumentation category.
  • Daniel Owens of Lexington Senior HS in the Creative Writing category.
  • George Robertson of Myers Park HS in the Problem / Solution category.
  • Sethea Seang of Lexington Senior HS in the Literary Analysis category.
Meredith Hemphill was the first ever repeat champion in NCASA history! She also won the Argumentation category in 2011.
A State Champion trophy was presented to Atkins A&T High School.  Trophies were also presented to each individual event winner.  Medallions were awarded to each student from the first, second, and third place schools.  Pictures are available upon request.

The Quill is the first ever statewide on-demand writing competition.  Up to four students from each school are presented prompts from four different genres: Argumentation, Problem / Solution, Literary Analysis, and Creative Writing.   Each student has ninety minutes to create a written response based on the presented prompt.  The purpose of this competition is to allow future novelists, scientists, and journalists to benchmark themselves against the best students across North Carolina.
The Quill is the third of twelve competitions that will determine the best high school in the state.  The NCASA Scholastic Cup will be awarded to the high school with the best overall performance among the twelve major scholastic competitions in North Carolina.  Points are awarded for participation and excellence in the four NCASA and eight partner competitions.  For more information on The Quill and the North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities, visit our website at www.ncscholastic.org
The schools participating in The Quill State Competition were also awarded points towards the NCASA Scholastic Cup.  The list below shows the current NCASA Scholastic Cup standings:
1 - Lexington Senior HS - 105 pts
2 - Ardrey Kell HS - 95 pts
3 - Atkins A&T HS - 90 pts
4 - Myers Park HS - 85 pts
5 - NC School of Science and Mathematics - 55 pts
6t - Chapel Hill HS - 50 pts
6t - Raleigh Charter HS - 50 pts
6t - Thomas Jefferson Classical - 50 pts
9 - Newton Conover HS - 45 pts
10- Jordan-Matthews HS - 40 pts
The North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit association of 43 North Carolina Schools.  We will present the State Tournament for two more competitions this year: Glee Club and Quiz Bowl.  Our mission is threefold: 1) Promote existing scholastic competitions, 2) Create innovative, enriching competitions, and 3) Reward individuals and schools for participation and excellence.