Rotarians Honor Student Essay Winners on Family Life

Posted by Karen Chasse on Apr 20, 2017

Each year the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club sponsors an annual essay contest for all eighth graders in Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach schools. This year marked the 22^nd year they have held the contest. The theme of the essay is “What the Word Family Means to Me,” which focuses on the students’ views of the importance of family life, their understanding, and appreciation of differences that exist with other families. The best essays are selected by the school’s faculty of teachers based on the established criteria: relevance to the topic, quality of composition, creativity, and grammatical, spelling accuracy.

On April 12, the first place winners from each participating school were invited to read their essay before an assembly of Rotarians, parents, school principals and teachers. Each was awarded a Certificate of Achievement along with a $100 prize. The first place winners were: Emily Boilard, Biddeford Middle School; Claire Loeser, Thornton Academy Middle School, Saco; Dayja Nguyen, Saco Middle School; Penelope Thao, Loranger Middle School, Old Orchard Beach; and Alannah Shevenell, St. James School, Biddeford.

Congratulations to the other prize winners who received $50 or $25 prizes as well: Katlyn Bickford and Aliyah Bureau - Biddeford Middle School; Julia Pisani and Hayley Litvinchyk

- Thornton Academy Middle School, Saco; Amy Blanchard and Paige Beaudoin - Saco Middle School; Alison Prejean and Ethan Hutchinson - Loranger Middle School, Old Orchard Beach; and Brian Perrault and Julia Violette - St. James School, Biddeford.

The Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club is pleased to be part of community involvement. If you would like more information on how to become involved with Rotary, please visit their website at www.biddeford-sacorotary.org.

PHOTO CAPTION: The Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club recently awarded winners for their twenty-second annual essay contest (l-r): Dayja Nguyen, Saco Middle School; Claire Loeser, Thornton Academy Middle School, Saco; Alannah Shevenell, St. James School, Biddeford; Penelope Thao, Loranger Middle School, Old Orchard Beach; and Emily Boilard, Biddeford Middle School.