HISD students win essay contest at Rice

BY DAVID MEDINA
Special to the Rice News

Ten students from Houston Independent School District will be honored at Rice University as winners of an essay-writing contest sponsored by Rice’s Houston Enriches Rice Education (HERE) Project.

The contestants addressed the theme ”If you were President Obama’s chief adviser, what national issue would you suggest the president address first and why?”

Prizes will be presented to the winners at noon May 23 in Farnsworth Pavilion at Rice Memorial Center.

First-place winner Ana Cuello of Jefferson Davis High School will receive $1,000. Second-place winner Griscel Sanchez of Westbury High School will receive $750. Martha Juarez of Eastwood Academy High School and Rebecca Villarreal of Reagan High School tied for third place and will receive $500 each. All winners will also receive free Princeton Review classes at Rice University, as will six other students who won honorable mention.

This is the second year that the HERE Project has sponsored an essay-writing contest. Limited to 11 inner-city high schools, the contest drew 133 participants this year — more than five times the number of students who entered last year’s contest.

HERE Project founder Anthony Pinn said he was pleased to see the growth of the program. ”I wanted to engage young people from different Houston communities in a writing process, which encourages them to reflect on their future and practice their writing skills,” said Pinn, the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and professor of religious studies at Rice.

The HERE Project is a curricular and research initiative created to advance Rice’s relationship with the larger Houston community and to enhance faculty research and both undergraduate and graduate education.

— David Medina is director of Multicultural Community Relations in the Office of Public Affairs.