CAIRO- For the second consecutive year, the Cairo High School Literary Team claimed the GHSA Region 1-AAA Literary Championship on Thursday, March 6th. Bainbridge High School and Peach County High School tied for second place, while Westover High School placed third.

The GHSA Literary Competition is an academic and artistic event that highlights student excellence in writing, music, speech, and theatre interpretation. Schools compete in twelve categories, with each event judged individually. Points are awarded based on placement, and the school with the highest total score is named the overall champion. Cairo scored 71 points overall with the second place tied winners scoring 34 points each.

The essay writing portion of the competition includes Literary Analysis, Argumentative, and Personal Essays, where students compose structured and persuasive pieces on assigned prompts. The music performance division features Boys Solo, Girls Solo, Girls Trio, and Boys Quartet, allowing students to showcase their vocal abilities. The extemporaneous speaking category consists of Domestic and International Extemporaneous Speaking, where students prepare and deliver debate style speeches on current events with limited preparation time. The interpretation division features Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, and Duo Interpretation, in which students perform scripted pieces demonstrating character development and emotional depth.

Cairo High School secured first-place finishes in eight of the twelve categories. Morgan Griffin won Dramatic Interpretation – this is the third year in row Cairo has won this category. Lilly Chaplin and Aubrey Whigham took first place in Duo Interpretation – this is also the third year Cairo brought home this title. Jenna Marie Melvin earned top honors in Literary Analysis Essay, while Jane Waver Willis won in Argumentative Essay. In the music categories, Brooke Boston, Kaprice Williams, and Eden Singletary won the Girls Trio competition – this is the third year in a row that Cairo brought home this title as well. Ronnie Gordon, Daniel Cruz-Gomez, Bryan Cordero-Jimenez, and Isidoro Resendiz-Chavez secured first place in Boys Quartet; the team is proud to have a quartet this year as it’s the first time in many years that CHS has had a quartet perform for this event. Austin Williams placed first in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, and Keaton Mobley won in International Extemporaneous Speaking.

In addition to the first-place finishes, Eden Singletary placed second in Girls Solo, Ronnie Gordon earned second place in Boys Solo, and Victoria Briscoe finished second in Personal Essay.

Brandi Adkins, CHS Literary Coordinator and essay coach, expressed her pride in the students’ efforts.

“Cairo High School focuses on nurturing the talent of all students,” she said. “For many of our competitors, this was their first year at the competition. However, we, as coaches, believed in their abilities, and they showed us that determination and persistence will always get you results. From our returning champions to our first-time winners, we are confident in the hard work and effort they have put in, and we are excited to see how they perform at the state competition.”

The Cairo High School Literary Team is coached by Adkins (Essay Coach), Hank Smith (Debate Coach), Christina Baker (Music Coach), and Austin Harrell (Interpretation Coach). With the region title secured, the first-place winners will advance to the GHSA Division AAA State Literary Championship on March 22nd at Bremen High School, where they will compete against other top performers from across Georgia.