Barrington High School's Sam Read and Amanda Woodard will have their stories published after being named winners of the Write Rhode Island short fiction writing competition. 

Sam and Amanda joined Rebecca Smith, of the Montessori Pathways of New England, as the three state winners. 

Sam wrote a story titled "Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun," while Amanda's story is titled "Unwelcome Guests." Officials from the competition stopped by Barrington High School last week to present Sam and Amanda with their awards.

In addition, a handful of other Barrington students were named Write Rhode Island "Notable Mentions":

• Jane Freiman, Barrington High School — "Toast Crumbs"

• Violet Johnson, Barrington High School — "To Raise the Sea"

• Martin Lapczyk, Barrington Middle School — "The Mighty American Dollar"

• Jillian Lombardi, Moses Brown School (Barrington resident) — "My Life on Pell Bridge"

“It’s very exciting to provide an audience and a way to connect with writing outside the classroom,” said Diana DeCesaris Champa, the director of literary engagement at School One and also the competition’s coordinator. “The opportunity to be published can be inspiring, and it gives students another reason to work at rewriting, editing and polishing their work. Last year, teachers reached out to thank us for providing this type of writing opportunity outside the classroom for students. This year we received more than 150 submissions and we’re thrilled.”

This past fall, Write Rhode Island sponsored free creative writing workshops for teens at public libraries and schools across the state. Suzanne Pickford, a teacher at Barrington High School, organized one of the workshops for her creative writing class.

The winning entries were selected by Goat Hill writers Ann Hood, Hester Kaplan and Taylor Polites. Winners of the Write Rhode Island short story competition will be honored at a special awards ceremony at the Newport Art Museum on March 18.