Four seventh-graders at Ryan Gloyer Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District won awards at the 2023 Waldman Arts & Writing Awards held May 10 at Chatham University. Pictured, from left, are Ellen Resnek, educational programs and outreach manager for Classrooms Without Borders; Zeke Stroupe, Ryan Gloyer Middle School gifted support teacher; student award winners Megan Gates, Abigail Mihalacki, Leah Malley and Kayla Moslander; and Meagan Loewy, Ryan Gloyer Middle School gifted support teacher. Submitted Photo

Four students in seventh-grade at Ryan Gloyer Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District were recognized for their award-winning poems.

The students were lauded at the 2023 Waldman Arts & Writing Awards on May 10 at Chatham University and hosted by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.

Megan Gates and Kayla Moslander won in the poetry-middle school category.

Leah Malley won in the education outreach-middle school category, and Abigail Mihalacki took best middle school poem, which also included a cash prize of $250.

Each year, students in the gifted education classes at Ryan Gloyer partner with Classrooms Without Borders for a Holocaust unit by bringing in Susan Stein, a teacher and playwright.

Stein speaks to students about diaries written by young people during the Holocaust and how they can use writing skills to impact their current lives.