Five students recently either won a trip to the nation’s capital or took home scholarship money.
Delaney Hilgenbrink, Sophia Nowack, Sash (Cassandra) Meyers, Audrey Keller, and Kenzie Firebaugh attended the Cuivre River banquet on April 3 that was held and present their essays in front of the judges.
“The banquet was pretty relaxed, for the first part. We had to take a short quiz over Cuivre River, then we had an introductory part where the presenters introduced us to the judges and gave some basic information on the youth tour, and after that everyone presented,” Myers said.
According to Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, this year’s topic was “My Favorite Cooperative Principle.”
On April 4, Ms. Franke received an email from Cuivre River on who won what of the competition. Hilgenbrink and Nowack won a full-expense paid, seven-day trip to Washington D.C.. Meyers, Keller, and Firebaugh also were awarded for their hard work, each winning a $500 college scholarship.
The seven-day trip to Washington D.C. includes opportunities to visit with representatives from their congressional districts and tour famous monuments, the Smithsonian Institution’s museums, and Arlington National Cemetery.
“I felt very proud having heard that I won the trip and it really didn’t feel real. My family spent a lot of time studying with me over spring break, so it felt really rewarding to see that payoff,” Hilgenbrink said. “One of my best friends is going on the trip as well and we agreed that it felt shocking and there’s so much excitement every time we learn a new thing at all about the trip.”
Mrs. Franke prepared the students by providing them access to previous winning essays from her classroom to see what other winners did in their essays to give them an idea of what the general idea of the essay is about.
“I explained the essay concept to them and then gave them time in class to write and ask for revisions,” Ms. Franke said. She also stated, “I was proud of all their hard work and excited for them.”
Nowack encourages students to participate in the contest in the future and don’t be worried is scared of it is not good enough.
“I would say that it doesn’t hurt to try. While you might not win, you’re still helping yourself improve as well as getting yourself out there,” Nowack said.
