Hispanic Heritage Essay Winners Announced

Students touched on a variety of themes, including family and resilience.

Montezuma Elementary student Allyson Jaramillo wrote about her annual trips to Mexico to visit family and spend time at the beach.

Damian Solis, a student at George I Sanchez Middle School, wrote about the importance of family and about looking out for his sisters.

And Dalia Sánchez, who attends West Mesa High School wrote about her heritage being a mix of two worlds, the traditions of her ancestors in Jalisco and her life here in the U.S.

Jaramillo, Solis and  Sánchez won first place in their respective elementary, middle and high school categories of the of the APS Hispanic Heritage Celebration essay contest. The contest was sponsored by the Office of Equity and Engagement for Hispanic Heritage Month

Entries were written in English or Spanish and were judged by Language and Cultural Equity staff.  In all, nine students were awarded first, second, or third place in the Elementary, Middle, and High School categories. The winners were recognized at their schools last week.

In the elementary school category, Kiley Cummins, a student at Cochiti, took second and Maxine Gardner, a student at Montezuma, took third place. For the middle school category, Madison student Emma Cisneros-Young won second place and George I Sanchez student Neveah Romero came in third. In the high school category, Alisha Das Gaur of La Cueva came in second and Anahi López of West Mesa won third place.

The winners touched on a variety of themes in their essays.

Solis, for instance, wrote about his family teaching him to be resilient, telling him to be brave when playing football, his favorite sport, and to pick himself up even when he goes down.

“My heritage has taught me to be brave even in difficult circumstances,” he wrote in Spanish. He also praised his father, noting that he works long hours to provide for him and his siblings.