Photo above: Sam Houston High School Principal Darnell Maurice White stands with San Antonio Book Festival winner and eleventh grader Jessica Redmon.
The first place winner in the 9-10th grade category was Rhyanne Saul, a ninth grader at North East School of the Arts (NESA) and in the 11-12th grade category, Jessica Redmon, an eleventh grader at Sam Houston High School was the winner.
Both were surprised by the news on February 3 with an unannounced visit to their English and creative writing class by a Texas Cavalier and Tracey Bennett, president of The San Antonio Public Library Foundation. The student winners were congratulated and presented with a display check in the amount of $150 and both schools received $500 for the English classroom.
Second place and third place winners in the 10-11 Grade category include: second place – Margaret Stephens, tenth grade, NESA; and third place – Austin Tillotson, ninth grade, East Central High School. In the 11-12 Grade category, second place and third place winners include: second place – Holly Rice, twelfth grade, NESA; and third place – Daniela Sandoval, twelfth grade, Southwest High School.
Second place winners in each category receive $100 and third place $75. All of the student winners will be awarded their cash prizes from King Antonio at the San Antonio Book Festival on April 5, 2014, at the Central Library and Southwest School of Art. The top stories will be presented by a Festival author as part of the program which includes 70 national and regional writers. Finalists will also receive an official Festival T-shirt and all contest participants will receive a special SABF Contest ribbon.
The winning essays were based on the theme “A River Runs Through It…” and the Texas Cavaliers generously underwrote the Contest.


