In a surprising sweep, three fifth-graders from the same class at Wright Elementary School took home statewide honors for their grade level in a Foundations for Life essay contest sponsored by CHARACTER COUNTS!.

Illya Davydov, 11, Kimberly Johnson, 11, and Summer Manley, 10, chose their topics from among several quotes, then wrote about what the sayings meant to them. The quote Kimberly chose (“Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened”) inspired her to pen a touching piece about her deceased grandfather and how she and her younger sister drew pictures on his door while he was in the hospital so he wouldn’t be lonely.

Nearly as happy as the students was their fifth-grade teacher, Barbara Morrison, who asked the trio to write their essays in class rather than at home. “I wanted it to be their words,” she told the Des Moines Register.