During the month of November, people all over the world grab their laptops and start writing to achieve the NaNoWriMo 50,000 word novel challenge. This tradition was originally founded in 1999 by Chris Baty and a group of friends who wanted to challenge themselves to write a novel in a month. It initially began as a small tradition but has since grown into a global writing phenomenon that people participate in around the world.

 The word NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is an annual event that takes place during the eleventh month of the year, November. Although this task was mainly created for adults trying to get their creative juices flowing, the Austin Prep seventh grade students have been doing this challenge every year and it is an amazing memory to look back on. Instead of 50, 000 words, the seventh graders are only required to do 10, 000. However, there are some highly dedicated students who have gone above and beyond in their NaNoWriMo writing journey. 

One of these students is Arame Minassian who is now an Austin Prep record holder for most words written, standing at 40,152 words. Some other writers to take into consideration are Amanda Theisen, who wrote 36,005 words, and Meghan Agassounan, who wrote 21,184 and is also the winner for the 20,000 word raffle. The other winners consist of Luke Rubman, who won the 15,000 word raffle, and PJ Kavka, who won the 10,000 word raffle.

The NaNoWriMo tradition is one that has taken place at Austin Prep for many years and will hopefully continue for many more years to come.