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We are pleased to announce that Montana Center for the Book’s nomination of Rising Voices at Browning High School was selected as a winner of the 2020 Library of Congress State Literacy Awards. Through the generosity of David M. Rubenstein the poetry club will receive $2000 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the promotion of literacy and reading in the local community and state.
Rising Voices is a student-led writing group established in 2014 under the guidance of Amy Andreas, the school librarian. Approximately 100 teens have been active members of the club. Since its development, Rising Voices students have worked with writers from Montana and all across the country to help hone and inspire their writing. Rising Voices has inspired a new generation of writers on the Blackfeet Nation and has helped students find the power of sharing their strong and creative voices with others. Each year culminates with the Rising Voices Literacy Night when 50–100 students, staff, and community members listen to students share their work and celebrate their creative efforts.
Expressing delight and humility, Andreas said, “This is very exciting. The students are of course exceedingly pleased to receive more state and national recognition for the group. They don’t understand how our ‘rag-tag’ group of writers has received so many accolades for just getting together, writing, and supporting each other’s creative efforts.”
The award will be used to help publish student poetry each year and to help bring in some visiting poets and writers or help students experience some literacy activities in other areas of the state.
