Six Kiefer junior high and high school students will pocket some cash for doing their homework after placing the 6th Annual Kiefer Schools Essay Contest.
The 2018 high school winners and prize money are senior Logan Stark, first place; freshman Elizabeth Geoffrey, second place; and senior Jacob “Squirrel” Wilson, third place. Junior high winners are eighth graders Kyleigh Greene, first place; Jasper Vinson, second place; and Marley Selby, third place.
“This year’s topic was difficult, and students had to do some research to accurately address the topic in their essays,” said Kiefer English and language arts teacher Lorrie Quinnelly, who spearheads the project.
The topic for the 2018 contest was “Should Immigration Law in the United States be reformed?”
“The judges for this year’s competition were impressed by students who spent some time researching the topic and examining the issue,” Quinnelly said.. “In some cases, the research made a difference in placing or being an honorable mention.”
In addition to certificates, students receive cash prizes and their names are engraved on a perpetual plaque. First place winners receive $50 each; second place, $40 each; and third place, $30 each.
Honorable mentions in the high school division went to seniors Jo Harbison, Dalton Ray and Dylan Wadley; junior Kloie Nation; and freshmen Molly Dolan and Justin Stark.
The annual competition is funded through a Kiefer Public Schools Education Foundation grant. In addition to cash prizes, students’ names, grades, and places are engraved on a plaque that hangs in the high school hallway.
Quinnelly said she chooses the project for her annual grant because she hopes to encourage students to write and to think critically.
“I love it when my students think deeper than the surface level of what we read and see in what we read,” she said. “I want my students to examine their own opinions and actions, to see beyond those initial levels to where those opinions and actions extend.
“The benefit of writing is that often it forces you to dip below the surface and seek out those deeper meanings. The more you write, the better writer you become, and I’ve got to believe, the more deeply and critically you think about issues.
“Money is a great motivator for students,” Quinnelly said. “I’m so grateful that the Kiefer Foundation provides a means for me to encourage writing and critical thinking in a tangible way for students.”
