"Reading is an adventure you take without leaving your seat. "

Congratulations to Mt. Zion 7th grader Mackenzie Wakeland for being named a statewide winner in the 2026 Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards! Selected from over 1,000 entries across Illinois, her poem, Numbers in Place of Names, was chosen as one of only two 6th-grade winners in the state.  Way to go Mackenzie!!