Your assignment:
"Participate in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week either by writing an essay or creating a poster on one of two themes: "If I were homeless . . . " or "What educational services do children who are homeless need?""
Each year (this is the fourth year of the contest) first and second place essays and first and second place posters are selected. Each winning student receives a $250 Tuition Assistance Grant from the Diocese's Department of Education. The winning entries in both categories and a number of essays and posters receiving special mention are presented here.
"Thoughtful, compassionate, insightful, imaginative, creative" – these are words that will come to mind as you read the essays and view the posters.
To quickly access the complete winning and special mention essays listed below click here. |
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The essay winners for 2009 are . . .
FIRST PRIZE
Operation: Education
by Ryan Milcarek
8th grade, Brookline Regional Catholic School
"My day starts out with waking up at the YMCA on a lumpy, musty mattress. I eat a meager and unsatisfying breakfast. Two Port authority buses take me to an inner city school where I get a free lunch. In fact, that is the main reason I go to school: to get a free lunch. Struggling in all my classes, kids make fun of my ragged clothes and lack of money. After school, if I can escape bullies, I wait alone at the bus stop for the ride home." [more]
RUNNER UP
A Better Education
by Martina Getty
5th grade, Saint Therese School
"All children, including homeless children, should be able to get a good education. There are about six hundred thirty-one homeless kids in Allegheny County alone. When children are homeless and they are usually in a shelter for at least a month so when they're in school and they have to move to a different shelter. they need to go to a different shelter and they feel left behind." [more]
Special Mention (in grade level order)
Homeless Kid
by Andrew Potter, 5th grade, St. Bernard School
"I am homeless and eleven years old. My parents, my brother and I live in a shelter downtown. " [more]
Communication Skills for the Homeless
by Maxwell Box, 6th grade, Divine Mercy Academy
"Being homeless is a very scary thought, but if I were a homeless child I would realize that communication skills are very important in a person's life."[more]
Educational Services for Homeless Children
by Carolyn Zeis, 7th grade, Holy Spirit School
"There are many homeless children in the United States. They are sorely in need of educational services. " [more]
Never Out of Reach
by Ally Bartoszewicz, 8th Grade, Saint Alexis School
"Sometimes, dreams are all we have left to hold on to. They can never be taken away from us, as our homes or dignity or possessions can." [more]
The poster winners for 2009 are . . .
FIRST PRIZE
"If you were a homeless child, what educational services would you think you deserve?" by Marlena Cook, 8th grade, Brookline Regional Catholic School
RUNNER UP
All kids no matter where they lay their heads deserve the chance to shine
by Tori Albert, 8th grade, Madonna Catholic School
See also a two-page display of posters receiving special mention:
(11/25/09)
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