APS accepting entries for essay contest

Albuquerque Public Schools is hunting for the Zadie Smiths and Oscar Wildes of the school yard.

With National Hispanic Heritage Month running from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the district is accepting essays for its “Mi Familia/My Family” essay contest.

In this essay, students are asked to reflect on their family and why these people are important to them.

“Family is truly important to the Hispanic Culture as it is for many

other cultures,” APS wrote in its essay guidelines.

All APS students in elementary, middle and high schools are invited to wield their pens and submit a piece, which can be written in Spanish or English.

Entries will be accepted until Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. Submissions with the student’s name, grade and school are to be sent to the Equity and Engagement Department at 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 520W, Albuquerque, NM, 87110.

Judges will be looking for whether the essay explains the importance of family, and evaluating the clarity and effectiveness in expressing the family theme. Grammar, spelling and composition are also a factor. Winners will be announced at a Hispanic heritage celebration on Oct. 4 at Albuquerque High School.

Albuquerque Bilingual Academy’s mariachi club has been selected to perform at the 2019 Independent Charter School Symposium in Albuquerque.

The group will play songs including “Amor de los dos,” “Volver volver” and “Atotonilco” at the national conference’s opening ceremony on Nov. 17.

The club began in the 2017-18 school year with about 15 students and has grown to 35 registered for the current school year. The program is offered to grades second through eighth.

Sixty-five New Mexico high schools in more than 30 school districts will be participating in this school year’s New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge.

The theme is “Keeping the World Safer Using Technology.” Throughout the semester, the more than 600 students will work in teams to create projects that address problems in the world. Partnering universities will provide mentors for the teams.

The projects will be judged and top teams will get $5,000 and present at the statewide showcase in December.

Each participating student is eligible to receive a New Mexico Activities Association varsity letter, the same award given to student athletes on a varsity sports team.

Alamogordo Public Schools is getting a unique way to serve students breakfast and lunch.

The school district got a food truck, made by Prime Design Food Trucks out of Phoenix, to provide kindergarten through 12th-grade students meals.

Alamogordo Public Schools and food service management company A’viands developed the idea.

The food truck is billed as a way to have on-campus food options that are customizable and use healthier ingredients.