Katerina Damiano has claimed honors in this year’s Huntington Youth Writes contest. The Huntington High School sophomore was recognized for her exceptional entry in the poetry category.
The teenager is a student in teacher Aimee Antorino’s English 10 Honor course. Ms. Damiano is an outstanding writer with an imagination and command of language that few can match.
Huntington High School sophomore Katerina Damiano.
“I am so proud of Katerina for her hard work and creativity,” Ms. Antorino said. “She is a pleasure to teach. I am so thrilled for her and look forward to her future endeavors.”
The sophomore is a thoughtful young woman who adds something positive to each of her classes. She’s certainly one of the top tenth grade English students.
“I have always loved writing poems and telling stories through writing,” Ms. Damiano said. “For the contest I wrote a poem about the important issue of modern day racism and ignorance. I tried to symbolize this huge issue that has been a part of society for so long through figurative speech. It’s an important piece to me because I think it needs to be talked about and that people need to start being more mindful of others and the problems that are so prevalent today.”
The sophomore is a very well-rounded student. She earns excellent grades and is highly regarded by the high school’s faculty.
“I’ve been taking creative video and drawing and painting classes the past two years at the high school,” Ms. Damiano said. “I was part of the Et Cetera literary magazine club last year. In the community I have been part of a writer’s workshop and volunteering over the summer at a local horse stable to help the community.”
The teenager intends to pursue a career in a field that involves creativity. “I’m very passionate about film and video so I’m thinking of going into the film industry in the future,” Ms. Damiano said.
The sophomore is a very serious student regardless of the specific class or subject and is always striving to be the best version of herself. She has worked closely with many teachers in the past two years.
“Mrs. [Heather] Swan has helped me improve my creativity in my video class and to broaden the topics and themes that I show in my short films,” Ms. Damiano said. “Mrs. [Kristin] Singer has also helped me with improving my creative skills and to use new mediums in art.”
The teenager is well on the way to making a name for herself. “I think Huntington High School is a great place for anyone,” Ms. Damiano said “There are so many opportunities for any interest someone might have and I think that’s so important, especially when everyone is trying to find their passion.”
The 22nd annual Huntington Youth Writes contest was open to students across the town enrolled in grades 4-12. In its two decade long history, the contest has attracted about 20,000 entries and presented over $30,000 in awards to hundreds young people. Many of the honorees have been Huntington School District students.
There are separate divisions for grades 4-5, 6-8 and 9-12. Categories include poetry, short story fiction and essay. Students must submit their own original work. All submissions must be in English. Students may submit multiple entries. Collaborative projects will not be accepted. Poems cannot exceed 60 lines. Essays and short stories cannot exceed 3,000 words. Winning entries will be published in a journal.
“This is an annual community competition for which Huntington always produces winners and this year is no different,” said Joseph Leavy, Huntington UFSD’s chairman of humanities. “Congratulations to Katerina Damiano for her excellent use of language in her poem and to Ms. Antorino for encouraging her students to participate.”