Two APS Student ‘Letters to Authors’ Garner State Win

Students from Tierra Antigua, Eldorado Won Competition

Nyah Trujillo of Tierra Antigua (above) and Clarissa Anello of Eldorado (below)

May 22, 2012

Nyah Trujillo, a fifth grade student at Albuquerque Public Schools Tierra Antigua Elementary, and Clarissa Anello, a junior at Eldorado High, have won first place in the statewide Letters About Literature competition sponsored by the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress and Target Corp. 

Trujillo, who was the state winner among students in grades 4-6, and Anello, who won for grades 9-12, each received a $100 Target gift card and the chance to participate in the national competition. 

Trujillo’s letter was to Lois Lowry, author of the Newbery Award-winning Number the Stars, which is about the Danish Resistance during World War II as told through the eyes of 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen as her family conceals Annemarie’s best friend. 

“I chose that author and the book because I liked the theme of bravery. In the book the girl has to be brave and help her friend,” Trujillo said. 

Anello wrote the letter to her author as part of a class assignment for teacher Dorene Kahl’s English class. 

If selected as national winners Trujillo and Anello can win a $500 Target GiftCard and a $10,000 Letters About Literature grant in their names for their school library. The national winners are to be announced later this month.