Local students make their words count

Area elementary and intermediate school students were in the spotlight as the Bay Ridge Community Council celebrated their writing skills during the annual Essay Contest awards ceremony.

Gathered at the Norwegian Christian Home for their May meeting, council members applauded the creativity and thoughtfulness of the winning essays, which were submitted by students in fifth through eighth grade.

There was a winning student in each grade at each school that participated in the competition. Their essays were judged by a panel of local dignitaries and educators, and one essay from each grade was chosen as an overall winner. Each student received a certificate and a plaque; the overall winners also received cash awards. Each grade had a different question to answer.

The overall fifth grade winner was Gabriela de Santo, a student at P.S. 204, whose essay addressed the question, “Do you believe extraterrestrial life exists?”

The overall sixth grade winner was Arieta Haskaj, who attends P.S./I.S. 104, and whose essay analyzed whether video games “are responsible for an increase in violence,” or whether they are “educational.”

The overall seventh grade winner was Jana Taoube, from I.S. 201, who answered the question, “Do you feel we should all give back to our community through volunteerism?” and who donated her cash award back to the council.

The overall winner among the eight grade students – who tackled the topic of “writ(ing) a brochure to attract visitors to your community… convinc(ing) people to visit the place where you live — was Krystian Bednarczuk, from I.S. 163.

The schoolwide fifth grade winners were Emily Archer (P.S. 69), PJ Vazzana (P.S. 102), Christopher Lutsker (P.S. 104), Stefany Queroz (P.S. 112), Jackie Yu (P.S. 163), Daren Villa (P.S. 176), Nathaniel Kruger (P.S. 185), John Jimenez (P.S. 506), Alesher Khakimov (Adelphi Academy), Veronica Zheny (St. Bernadette School) and Cara Mulrooney (St. Patrick School).

The schoolwide sixth grade winners were Ghassan Alduais (P.S. 163), Ting Ting Chen (I.S. 187), Alyssa Santiago (I.S. 201), Jenny Li (I.S. 227), Arber Kadev (Adelphi Academy), Peter Tedesco (Leif Ericson Day School), Christopher Harvey (St. Ephrem School) and Maggie Williams (St. Patrick School).

The schoolwide seventh grade winners were Angelina Vega (P.S. /I.S. 104), Michelle Flores (P.S./I.S. 163), Asma Sadea (I.S. 259), Julian Serrano (Leif Ericson Day School) and Caitlyn Schmidt (St. Patrick School).

Finally, the schoolwide eighth grade winners were Samuel Shteynberg (I.S. 30), Dina Gomaa (P.S. /I.S. 104), Anthea Lo (I.S. 187), Mukhsima Nurilloeva (I.S. 227), Justin Yip (I.S. 259), Alexa Malerba (St. Ephrem School) and Elissa Flores (St. Patrick School).