CCSD Students Win at 2025 State Literary Competition Championships

From left, Zahira Ambriz Villela, Braylee Bryant, Sofia Castillo, Dakota Youngblood, Margarita Cohrs, Sophia Foisy, Kaylee Kula.

Cherokee County School District high school students earned top honors at the statewide literary competition!

The Georgia High Schools Association event includes writing, public speaking, acting and singing competitions, with region winners advancing to the recently held state competition.

Congratulations to our students and their teachers and thank you to our School Board for its investment in our English language arts and performing arts programs and opportunities for student competition!

In the 5A State competition, Sequoyah High School earned two state individual championships and honors in two more contests, placing third in the state overall.

Zahira Ambriz Villela earned first place in Essay – Argumentative, and Braylee Bryant, Sofia Castillo, and Dakota Youngblood earned first place in Girls Trio.  Ava Grace Roberts and Dakota Youngblood earned third place in Literary Interpretation – Duo, and Max Aaron, Matthew Lorenz, James Markham, and Justin Moore earned fourth place in Boys Quartet.  The team, which also earned first place overall in the region competition, is coached by teacher Josh Markham, the school’s choral program director.

Creekview High School earned an individual state championship with Margarita Cohrs winning first place in Girls Solo.  Adyson Byrd earned third place in Essay – Personal.  The team, which placed seventh overall in the state, is coached by teacher Dr. Scott L. Martin, the school’s choral director.

Woodstock High School earned an individual state championship with Sophia Foisy winning first place in Extemporaneous Speaking – International.  The team is coached by social studies teacher Kaley Brown.

In the 6A State competition, Cherokee High School earned a state individual championship with honors in two more contests, placing fifth in the state overall. 

Kaylee Kula earned first place in Literary Interpretation - Solo Humorous.  Tessa Ghaasemzadeh and Jeremy Huff placed fourth in Literary Interpretation – Duo, and Brandon Mears placed fourth in Literary Interpretation - Solo Dramatic.  The team, which also earned first place overall in the region competition, is coached by teacher Dr. Jodi Burns, the school’s theatre program director.

Etowah High School earned the 6A State competition Girls Trio contest third-place honor for a performance by Jinx Redman, Alexa Velilla, and Marissa Whitney.  The team is coached by teacher William J. Hall, the school’s choral program director.

Students advanced to state competition after top performances at the regional event.  In addition to the state winners noted above, congratulations to these first-place region winners:

From Cherokee HS, Samantha Geer for Girls Solo and Samantha Geer, Sola Hulbert and Abigail Scott for Girls Trio.

From Etowah HS, Mihini Senanayake for Essay - Literary Analysis, Aady Zain for Extemporaneous Speaking - International, and Brendan Fagan, Sean Helms, Lexa Overcash, and Luke Wright for Boys Quartet.

From River Ridge HS, Kimberly Rodriquez for Extemporaneous Speaking - Domestic.  The team is coached by teacher Dr. Allison Baccala, the school’s choral program director.

From Sequoyah HS, Ava Grace Roberts for Literary Interpretation - Solo Dramatic and Parker Ingram for Literary Interpretation - Solo Humorous. 

From Woodstock HS, Micayla Hurndon for Literary Analysis.

#CCSDElevateTheExcellence