Scholarship Opportunities Available!
We are proud to celebrate all of the outstanding student writers from across Eastern Oregon who participated in this year’s challenge. Their work reflects creativity, critical thinking, and the powerful voices of our region.
CONGRATULATIONS to our top placed finishers in both the high school and middle school divisions!
🏆 High School Division (Grades 9–12)
Selected from essays submitted from across the 5 county EOREN region.
🥇 1st Place
Francesca Whiteman - Joseph High School, Wallowa County (Teacher: Cameron Scott)
🥈 2nd Place
Elijah Jones - Joseph High School, Wallowa County (Teacher: Cameron Scott)
🏆 Middle School Division (Grades 6–8)
Selected from essays submitted from across the 5 county EOREN region.
🥇 1st Place
Ben Strawn - Willowcreek School, Malheur County (Teacher: Kim Worley)
🥈 2nd Place
Margaret Gould - Paisley School, Lake County (Teacher: Kim Nichols)
🥉 3rd Place
Wesley Istre - Dayville School, Grant County (Teacher: Sydney Thompson)
The 2026 ELA Writing Challenge brought together students from across the region to engage in meaningful writing aligned to real-world performance tasks. From thoughtful analysis to compelling storytelling, students demonstrated not only strong literacy skills, but also the ability to express ideas with clarity and purpose.
We extend our appreciation to the educators who supported students throughout this process and helped elevate student voice in their classrooms. We would also like to thank FISHTRAP: Writing and the West for scoring our student essays!
The Eastern Oregon Regional ELA Writing Challenge is an annual opportunity for students in grades 6–12 to engage in a guided writing performance task designed to strengthen writing skills and support readiness for state assessments and beyond.
2026 Challenge Timeline
Registration: November–December 2025
Challenge Window: January–February 2026
Winners Announced: April 2026
2026 Participation
Students from all 5 EOREN counties participated (Grant, Harney, Lake, Malheur, and Wallowa)
24 school districts participated
2026 Participating Districts
Your participation helps strengthen writing instruction and elevate student voice across Eastern Oregon.
Select the link for the grade level you registered for. This will take you to a shared Google Drive folder containing all challenge materials.
🔒 Access note: These links are available only to educators who registered before the deadline. If you registered and are having trouble accessing materials, please contact Madysen Navarrete.
This 6-12 Argumentative Unit of Study was developed by Yolanda Westerberg for the Eastern Oregon REN. Those who successfully completed the challenge, should have access using this link.
