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TAHLEQUAH, OK - Eight students from Sequoyah High School recently earned prizes in the annual Cherokee Nation writing contest.

"Great things come from great kids and great teachers," said Tony Pivec, superintendent of Sequoyah High School. "We have a lot of both at SHS."

The Cherokee Nation awarded winning students cash prizes in the amount of $100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place.

Ryan Girty won the non-fiction competition for 11th and 12th grade students; Joseph Byrd took first in the 11th and 12 grade poetry competition; Logan Turner took top honors in the drawing contest.

In the 9th and 10th grade poetry competition, Kanda Liles won second place and Ira Walton took third.

Johnathan Crittenden won the fiction competition for eleventh and twelfth graders, followed by Candice Carey in second place and Eric Marshall in third.

Sequoyah High School also placed first and fifth in the Cherokee Language Bowl team competition and second and fourth in the Cherokee Challenge Bowl team competition.

"Art classes at school really helped me to develop my art," said Logan Turner of Stilwell.

Turner has entered the Cherokee Nation Writing Contest every year for the past five years and has one first place or best of show every time for his drawings. He plans to attend the University of Oklahoma after graduation where he will major in graphic design.

Jonathan Crittenden of Pamona, California entered the contest for the first time this year.

"I never knew any of my writing would be that good," Crittenden said.

"We're thankful for the Cherokee Nation Johnson O'Malley (JOM) program taking the time to put on competitions that showcase student academic talents," Pivec said. "JOM and our students participants did a wonderful job."

Sequoyah High School "Home of the Indians!"       Sequoyah High School, an Indian boarding school, originated in 1871, when the Cherokee National Council passed an act setting up an orphan asylum to take care of many orphans that came out of the Civil War. Sequoyah High School's approximate 300 enrollment represents 42 tribes and 14 different states. Students are eligible to attend if they are members of federally recognized Indian tribes or one-fourth blood descendants of such members.