Every year, the Classical Association of New England (CANE) hosts a writing contest for middle and high school Classics students. Schools send submissions to their CANE state representative to be judged. Top state winners go on to compete among the larger New England area. The final winner is invited to CANE’s Annual Meeting to publicly share their winning essay.
The 2025 topic was “Modern Myths” – a challenge to compose one’s own transformation myth, following in the fantastic footsteps of Ovid. Full prompt details can be found here.
The die is cast (but in a whimsical way) – below are CANE’s 2025 Writing Contest results from Maine.
Optime/Εὖγε to:
1st Place: Jay Dostie, Gardiner Area High School, teacher Katie Collins.
2nd Place: Joshua Schmalzel, Waterville Senior High School, teacher Seth Metcalf.
3rd Place: Ella Setchell, Gardiner Area High School, teacher Katie Collins.
You can read the works of our young talented Maine Classicists here. Please send congratulatory thoughts to the gods on their behalf – and consider challenging your students with CANE’s 2026 Writing Contest (coming in the Fall).
