First Winners Announced for New Immigration Essay Contest

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First place winner for Junior High, Alberto Mora (now a freshman at Purcell Marian) and his family.

Katherine Ryder, Coordinator of the  Coordinator Center for the Study of the American Dream at XU, announces the essay contest winners at the Hispanic Heritage Gala in September.

The first winners of what is to be an annual junior high and high school essay contest on immigration were announced this month at the Hispanic Heritage Gala at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Six local students of various ethnic backgrounds were the winners. Students from more than 30 schools and more than 20 ethnic backgrounds submitted essays on the topic of “how the immigrant experience has touched their lives and how Cincinnati should integrate new immigrants.”

The contest is a joint project of the Xavier University Office of Interfaith Community Engagement (Rabbi Abie Ingber, founding director) and Center for the Study of the American Dream (Michael Ford, founding director), created for part of the Cincinnati USA Hispanic Chamber’s follow-up on the booklet Cincinnati: A City of Immigrants.

Produced by the Hispanic Chamber with grants from many corporate and religious sponsors, including the SC Ministry Foundation and the Su Casa Hispanic Center of Cincinnati, the booklet was developed to help students understand the waves of immigrants that settled our country, the challenges posed by each wave, and the contributions immigrants have made to Cincinnati and the country. (Excerpts are online at the Cincinnati: A City of Immigrants web site.)

First Place: $1,000 Scholarship – OR – one new iPad + $500

Junior High School: Alberto Mora, from Cincinnati, OH, parents originally from Mexico, 9^th grade at Purcell Marian High School.

High School: Alex Thesken, from Cincinnati, OH, parents originally from Germany, senior at Lakota West High School.

Second Place: Second Place: $750 Scholarship –OR- one new iPad + $250

Junior High School: Alexis Afriyie, born in Ghana, parents from Ghana, 9th grade at Lakota East High School.

High School: Daniel Riveros, born in Colombia, parents from Colombia, senior at Lakota West High School

Third Place: $500 Scholarship –OR- one new iPad

Junior High School: Mon Bajgain, born in Nepal, parents from Bhutan, 8th grade at White Oak Middle School.

High School: Jesus Avila, born in San Antonio, TX, parents from Mexico, senior at Princeton High School.

Application forms for the 2013 contest will be available in the spring through the project website.

Photos courtesy Xavier University.

All the essay winners with representatives from the contest.

First place winner for High School, Lakota West Senior Alex Thesken, at the award reception.