TALENTED
TEENS SHOW OFF NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL STRENGTHS: ESSAY
CONTEST WINNERS TO BE HONORED AT BARNARD COLLEGE
March 24, 2000, New York City,
New York- Twenty-eight
teenage girls-all students in New York City public
high schools -were named winners in the 2000 Barnard
College/CBS Essay Contest. Now in its ninth year,
the highly competitive and popular contest drew
519 entries from a record 70 high schools throughout
the five boroughs. Seventeen of these schools, representing
a cross-section of city neighborhoods and schools,
produced this year's winners.
Selected by a panel of professional writers and
Barnard College English professors, the students
will be honored, along with their teachers and principals,
at a special ceremony at the college on TUESDAY,
APRIL 4th, starting at 6:15 P.M.
The
contest is open to junior-class girls in the city's
public schools and puts a spotlight on a part of
the system that is often overlooked: its successes.
Writing on the theme "A Woman I Admire," the students
drew their inspiration from the famous as well as
from their own friends and families.
Letiah Fraser, 16, from John Bowne High School in
Flushing, was the $1,000 top-prize winner with a
bracing profile of her aunt, a teacher of the disabled
who developed her skills working with Ms. Fraser,
who has cerebral palsy. $500 will be awarded to
John Bowne's English department in Ms. Fraser's
honor.
The top three runners-up are: Shelley Diaz, 16,
of Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, who
profiled her twin sister-"pushed, ignored, and pitied
throughout her childhood"-because, like Ms. Fraser,
she has cerebral palsy; Esther Negron, 17, of Harry
Van Arsdale High School in Brooklyn, who chose Maya
Angelou, whose work was so compelling that it rendered
silent a "rustling, loud, immature" audience of
adolescents at a reading in her school auditorium;
Novelette Forte, 17, of Erasmus Hall Campus: School
of Humanities in Brooklyn, who selected an aunt
who took custody of her six years ago, saving her
from a life of anger and depression. The runners-up
will receive $500, $300 and $200 respectively. The
competition is underwritten by the CBS Foundation.
Mariah Carey, Martha Graham, Rosa Parks, Hester
Prynne, Eve and the Virgin Mary, Princess Di, Amy
Tan-these were some of the figures that the 519
students wrote about in their essays. But mostly,
and with special feeling, they wrote about mothers
and grandmothers, aunts and sisters: women who have
wrestled with poverty, illness, dislocation or alienation-and
triumphed. Many reflect the immigrant experience.
From these personal tales, a poignant and sometimes
painful picture emerged of how complex and tumultuous
life can be for New York City teens, and how perceptive
they can be about it.
This year, the judges selected 24 Certificate of
Merit winners in addition to the top four cash prize-winners.
They come from the following schools: Bronx High
School of Science, Bronx School for Law, Government
and Justice; Brooklyn Technical High School, Edward
R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn; A. Philip Randolph
Campus High School, Hunter College High School,
Institute for Collaborative Education, Professional
Performing Arts, Seward Park High School, Stuyvesant
High School, Talent Unlimited in Manhattan; Jamaica
High School, John Bowne High School, Richmond Hill
High School, Townsend Harris High School in Queens.
The judges-all Barnard English professors or alumnae
writers-were: Alison Craiglow Hockenberry, TV producer;
Rosemarie Robotham, author, editor and Essence magazine
Editor-at-Large; Angela Tung, author; and Barnard
English department faculty members and writers Anne
Prescott and Quandra Prettyman.
Awardees, their families, teachers and principals
are expected to attend the April 4th event. Barnard
President Judith R. Shapiro will preside. The contest
judges, members of the Board of Education and of
the CBS Foundation are also among the expected guests.
Excerpts from the top four winning essays are attached.
Full texts of all winning essays are available on
request.
WHAT:
BARNARD COLLEGE/CBS ESSAY CONTEST AWARDS CEREMONY
WHEN: TUESDAY, APRIL 4TH 6:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. WHERE:
BARNARD COLLEGE, 117TH STREET & BROADWAY McIntosh
Center, Lower Level
Contacts:
Beverly Solochek (718) 625-3715 solochekb@earthlink.net
Lucas Held/Petra Tuomi (212) 854-2037 lheld@barnard.edu
ptuomi@barnard.edu
Excerpts
from Winning Essays 2000 BARNARD COLLEGE/CBS ESSAY
CONTEST
From
Improvisation to Inspiration (And Back Again) By
Letiah Fraser John Bowne High School, Flushing
Aunt
Iona knew how to handle my problems, and her own,
too. When their baby was a toddler, her first husband
died. She started all over again by returning to
the college she had given up for marriage, lived
with her mother and completed a degree in education.
Her specialization is in the education of children
with disabilities, and it was our relationship that
sparked her interest. She saw that she had the ability
and talent to help me, and by analogy, she was certain
she could work with others like me. I have cerebral
palsy.
Woman
Rising: Maya Angelou By Esther Negron Harry Van
Arsdale High School, Brooklyn
As
the words poured from her mouth, her state changed,
her voice became brave and proud and her body shivered,
speaking the words of Maya Angelou. The rustling,
loud, immature audience suddenly became silent.
The young girl sent emotions down my spine, the
words giving me goose bumps, and images of a woman
rising became implanted in my mind. I could feel
Angelou's soul hover over me with the passion of
each word that the girl spoke, and each word touched
me deeply. The synchronized poetic thoughts of Maya
Angelou made me yearn to know her story, and to
tell my own.
A
Woman I Admire By Novelette Forte Erasmus Hall Campus:
School of Humanities, Brooklyn
I
was left alone with my grandmother. Mama, as I called
her, had already raised her own eleven children,
and felt as if her child care days were over. Mama
took physical care of me as well as she could. She
gave me shelter, and always made sure that I was
neat when I headed off to school. But there was
never love and warmth. Because she cared for me,
she thought I deserved her love, but she never loved
me the way she loved her other grandchildren.
"It
Doesn't Matter If You Fall…" By Shelley Diaz Townsend
Harris High School, Flushing
Melanie
was born with minor cerebral palsy, a condition
that didn't paralyze her completely, but marked
her "different" from everyone else. The cruelty
of children, when faced by something they don't
understand, can scar a person's life forever. My
sister was pushed, ignored, and pitied throughout
her childhood, but she didn't become bitter and
unloving because of it. On the contrary, she has
become stronger because of it, almost impermeable.
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