Students place well in national competition
T Imagine
wo local students received high honors while competing against over 50 other schools throughout the country.
School of Imperial Valley’s Sussy Barron and Alesandra Islas placed in the top three of their divisions in the 11th annual Imagine Schools National Character Essay contest May 2.
“By these two students being selected as national winners, it speaks huge volumes of the talented writing we have at Imagine School at Imperial Valley. We feel blessed and honored to have two of our students be recognized and selected in a national competition,” stated Imagine School at Imperial Valley’s Character Development Contact Larry Valenzuela.
The essay contest gave students from over 50 Imagine Schools across the United States an opportunity to share character values they find most important.
Sussy, an eighth grade student, placed first overall in the eighth grade division. She will be honored at the school’s eighth grade graduation ceremony on June 9 and receive an award, a book and a laptop.
Sussy’s schoolmate Alesandra, a third grade student, also represented the school in the contest well.
“I was very excited and proud of myself because it’s a big deal and it’s something special,” said Alesandra, who placed third overall in the contest’s third grade division.
It took the third grade student two days to write her essay that explained how small things can make a big difference and change the world.
Alesandra will be awarded on June 8 at the school’s end of year awards ceremony and received an award, gift certificates and a laptop.
“Maybe when I get older and have another essay to write I can use it to work on it,” responded the third grade student when asked how she’ll be using her new laptop.
The contest was held from Jan. 5 to Feb. 13. Valenzuela evaluated and submitted each local student’s essay he believed would win to a panel of judges in Florida on March 2. The judges then evaluated approximately 300 entries based on content, organization, voice and grammar.
On May 2, the school was notified that Sussy and Alesandra had placed in the competition.
“I thank eighth grade teacher Gonzalo Estrada and third grade teacher Ana Ramirez for encouraging these students to do their best in writing these awesome essays. I also want to thank Regional Director and Principal Dr. Jiminez for allowing me to continue to lead the character development and character initiatives this year,” commented Valenzuela on support for the annual contest.