Shady Side Academy sophomore Djibril Branche won first place in the High School Prose category of Carnegie Mellon University's 2017 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Awards, while SSA senior Katie Davenport earned an honorable mention in the same category.

Branche and the other student winners will read their poems and essays at an awards ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 16, in CMU's Rangos Ballroom in the Cohon University Center. The winners will receive cash prizes and their pieces will be published in a booklet distributed at the ceremony. Local music groups will perform, and the family-friendly event is free and open to the public.

The awards program, established in 1999 to give high school and college students a safe, creative space to explore racial and cultural differences, received a record-breaking 220 entries from 16 high schools and five colleges this year. Winning essays and poems tackled topics from self-identity and racism to terrorism and the U.S. presidential election.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Awards are sponsored by CMU's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of English, Office of Student Affairs and Office of the President. The contest is open to all high school and college students in the Pittsburgh area and seeks personal narratives dealing with racial prejudice and discrimination. The top three winners receive cash prizes.

Congratulations, Djibril and Katie!