Applause fills the room as students from surrounding schools sulk in a stupor of disappointment. Junior Gissela Sandoval has just been declared the winner of the essay competition at NWACC’s annual LIFE Field Day Nov. 7.
“It was so awesome,” said Sandoval, “It was amazing. It felt good to know that I beat Springdale.”
Sandoval’s winning essay was a persuasive speech that expressed her sentiments regarding the topic of equal access to voting. She was not privy of the essay topics of which she could choose them prior to the competition and was allocated fifty minutes to develop the paper.
Sandoval was also granted access to the internet in order to supplement her writing with research. All essays were judged on content, fluidity, clarity of analysis, grammar, and usage of evidence. She found the competition to be riveting as she felt strongly about the topic and was able to shine in her field.
“I love writing,” said Sandoval.
Essay writing was not the only area students could compete in. There were also speech, math, and geography, science, and trivia contests. The event was open to seniors and juniors that either have English as their second language or are on the path to be the first to graduate in their family. 16 students had the privilege of competing in their areas of academic expertise in the event.
“Har-Ber won geography, speech, science and trivia, and they also received First Place Overall award,” said ESL English instructor Jeanie Nance.
Even students who did not receive first place awards benefited from the academic challenge the event offered. Junior Luis Marin practiced his math skills diligently in preparation for the math competition.
Marin and his partner Julio Hernandez worked together to solve 20 algebra and geometry problems over the course of 50 minutes. Although the duo did not have the top score, they suffered a close loss to Springdale High.
“I am good in math. I took advanced classes in Mexico,” said Marin.
In preparation for the event, students either worked through problems, studied examples, or worked with Oral Communications instructor Ta-Neisha Marshall.
