NICC announces winners of 5th Annual Larry Kruse Memorial Writing Contest

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

 Northeast Iowa Community College has announced the winners of the 5th Annual Larry Kruse Memorial Writing Contest. The writing contest celebrates and encourages original writing by students at Northeast Iowa Community College.

The following nine students earned recognition for their writing:

Short essays

1st place: Louis Blommel, “Fortress of the Farm”

2nd place: Serena Brainard, “A Home Built on Friendship”

Honorable mention: Alivia Wagner, “First Day in College”

Long essays

1st place: Symon Winsor, “Warts and All”

2nd place: Courtney Beecher, “The Boy”

Honorable mention: Chloye Gmur, “The HeART of Listening”

Fiction

1st place: Luke Giegerich, “Pass the Woods”

2nd place: Ruby Gaynor, “My First and Last Hunting Trip”

Honorable mention: Collin Pollock, “Something to Be Seen”

About the Writing Contest

The NICC writing contest is held in memory of Lawrence “Larry” Kruse (1945-2020), a former writing instructor in the Peosta and Dubuque Learning Centers. During his time with the College, Larry was a helpful writing resource for many of our students.

The Spring 2025 writing contest was organized by Learning Center staff and communications faculty from the Calmar and Peosta campuses.

Students were encouraged to enter their original writing from the 2024-2025 academic year in one of three categories: short essays (up to 1200 words), long essays (1201-4000 words), or fiction (up to 4000 words).

The contest was judged by Jim Brimeyer, retired communications instructor, and Jim Swenson, retired journalist and features editor for the Telegraph Herald.

First-place winners will receive a $300 scholarship. Second-place winners will receive a $200 scholarship. Honorable mention winners earn recognition.