Breanna Parks, a senior at Knott County Central High School, received an award from the Freedom Writers Foundation of Long Beach, Calif. As part of the award, she will be included as a student author in an upcoming book set to be released in spring 2022.

Parks submitted a piece of writing into a group of entries with authors aged 10-20 from around the world. Fifty entries were chosen from the United States, and other entries from 20 different countries will be included in the final copy of the book, “Dear Freedom Writer.”

Parks and her English teacher, Cathy Conley — who also will be included in the book — will travel to Long Beach to attend a launch party where the book will be presented to distinguished individuals from around the globe. Conley has been a Freedom Writer Teacher since 2017.

Parks is the first students from any eastern Kentucky school to be part of this project.