St. Pius X High School junior Mary Papania was selected by the National Council of Teachers of English as one of its outstanding writers in the 2014 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing program.

St. Pius X High School junior Mary Papania, a resident of Lilburn, has been chosen by the National Council of Teachers of English as one of its outstanding writers in the 2014 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing program. Papania was the only student from Georgia recognized for the honor and the 39th St. Pius X student since 1969 to earn the honor.

A team of English teachers judged the submissions, looking for writing that demonstrated effective and imaginative use of language to inform and move an audience. They also looked for content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style.

Over 790 students from across the United States, Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Schools Abroad were nominated in the competition. Of that number, 164 students were selected as outstanding writers this year.