2025 PRISM Writing Contest Award Winners 

ART 

First Place – “Shades of Nature,” Kristin Sanborn

Second Place – “One Last Smoke,” Caleb Nadeau

FRESHMAN/SOPHOMORE ESSAY (The Mary Kilgallen Award) 

First Place – “The Price of Fame,” Samantha Schuiteman

Second Place – “Escaping Justice: Hitler and the Death Penalty, Milo Leuenberger

FRESHMAN/SOPHOMORE RESEARCH PAPER 

First Place – “Beyond Child’s Play: Kids and Digital Technology Exposure,” Andrea Chistensen

Second Place – “The Science of the Cardiovascular System,” Morgan Lawrence

JUNIOR/SENIOR ESSAY 

First Place – “Folklore’s Answering of Etiological Questions,” Lily Sawyers

Second Place – “The Echoes of Division: Social Media’s Role in Political Polarization,” Johnathen Hart

JUNIOR/SENIOR RESEARCH PAPER 

First Place – “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail: Schizoanalysis of Trumpist Rhetoric in 2024—Harnessing the Desire for Order,” William Garason

Second Place – “Feminism and Dorian Gray – How Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is Both Sexist and Defiant of Patriarchy,” Renee Gauthier

POETRY 

First Place – “Pretty Woman / Wok and Salt,” Lee McAuliffe

Second Place – “To Being an Insider,” Claire Johnston

Honorable Mentions – “Morel-Hunting,” Andrea Chirstensen

                                       “The Backup Plan,” Lanai Ware

                                       “Two Sides of a Coin,” Grace Heethuis

                                        “A Gardened Heart,” Maddy Nunn

SHORT FICTION 

First Place – “Beneath the Willow Tree,” Johnathen Hart

Second Place – “Happy Beginnings,” Lily Sawyer

Honorable Mentions – “The Weary Traveller,” Sofia Dubois

                                       “Thanksgiving Blessings,” Andrea Chirstensen

TECHNICAL, PROFESSIONAL, OR SCRIPT (The Daniel Ding Memorial Award) 

NONE AWARDED