18
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
RPA student wins writing prize
By Ceili Cornelius
Correspondent
Al Lehto is the recipient
of the inaugural student writ-
ing prize from the Waterston
Desert Writing Prize com-
petition. The winning piece,
titled <The Badlands,=
reflects Lehto9s passion for
storytelling and experiences
in the high desert of Central
Oregon.
Lehto (preferred pro-
nouns: they, their, them) is
a graduating senior from
Redmond Proficiency
Academy and will be attend-
ing the University of Oregon
in the fall to study early edu-
cation. Lehto chose to study
early education, hopefully
teaching in the humanities
and literature department,
because of the mentors they
had in high school.
<I had wonderful mentors
from RPA and they inspired
me to be a mentor and were
helpful in assisting me in tak-
ing the leap,= Lehto said.
Lehto has had many life
experiences that led to to find
writing as a passion.
<I have a true passion
for telling stories, it is how
I express myself and writ-
ing helps me arrange my
thoughts,= Lehto said.
Lehto was one of a num-
ber of young writers who
submitted an essay to the
contest, including several
from Sisters High School.
As a graduating senior,
Lehto was always on the
lookout for scholarship
opportunities and would gen-
erally gravitate towards writ-
ing contests. The Waterston
Desert Writing Prize was
listed as a contest to enter
and they saw it as an oppor-
tunity to offer a part of their
personal life that other con-
tests didn9t accept. The
prompt for the student prize
was a memoir piece about
the high desert. Their rela-
tionship with their mother
is based off experiences in
the desert, so they wrote the
piece called <The Badlands.=
Lehto9s mother is an artist
and would spend most days
when she was off work, out
in the Central Oregon bad-
lands, painting and sketch-
ing. When Lehto was young,
they resented the desert envi-
ronment because they moved
from the warm and green
valley that was home, and
<I had a very flawed view
of the desert. But it was my
mother9s favorite environ-
ment to be in and when I was
younger I often didn9t under-
stand why she would choose
to go out there on her own
and be away from family.=
I n t h e p i e c e L e h t o
describes beginning to under-
stand that people need emo-
tional support from nature
and not just from people, and
that the desert was that sup-
port for their mother.
<I regret the way I treated
my mother when I was
younger, but as I began to
understand her connection
to the Badlands and its cre-
ated more of a connection
between her and I and I am
proud of that,= Lehto said.
Their mother has now
completed a sketched map of
the Badlands and continues
to paint and sketch out there.
It was important to Lehto
to write this piece because it
was on a <tentative= subject
from their life and the rela-
tionship with their mother.
<I wasn9t sure I wanted
to put this piece out there at
first because it is so personal
and the relationship is flawed
and it was a tough time in our
life,= Lehto said.
They decided to submit
the piece with the support of
their mother.
<My mom is supportive of
the success and that is what
means the most to me right
now,= Lehto said.
The Waterston Desert
PHOTO PROVIDED
Writing Prize9s mission, as
stated by their website, <is Al Lehto won the inaugural Waterston Desert Writing Prize student
to strengthen and support the competition.
literary arts and humanities
in the high desert region of
the Northwest through recog-
nition of literary excellence
in nonfiction writing about
desert landscapes, through
community interaction with
the winning authors of the
annual prize, and presenta-
tions and programs that take
place in association with the
er ving
erving
gS
Sisters
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ters S
Since
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962
541-549-1026 188 W. Sisters Park S Serving
prize.=
Dr. In Sisters Industrial Park
Lehto had a connection
to the prompt because they
knew it was an opportunity to
write about their relationship
with their mother, while also
still writing about a connec-
tion the high desert in which
they live.
<I generally gravitate
towards writing prompts that
I have some sort of personal
connection to. I enjoy writing
with some sort of structure,=
Lehto said.
Lehto9s writing process is
simple: <I write the piece in
one swoop after organizing
Take Mom on a
Scenic Drive…
Happy
Mother’s Day!
DAVIS TIRE
See WRITING PRIZE on page 19
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