Samuel Radcliffe was the tenth-grade essay contest first-place winner on patriotism, and Aidan Mora-Monge was the ninth-grade first-place essay contest winner on Christianity… but everyone in attendance won the evening of June 7 at an awards ceremony and reception honoring the student-winners of the Saints Peter and Paul High School essay contest sponsored by the Regina Coeli Council of the Knights of Columbus.
Samuel Radcliffe
Principal Jim Nemeth, who guided the essay contests to their successful conclusions, capably served as the Master of Ceremonies; Pastor James Nash led the nearly 40 people in attendance in prayer and gave opening comments; retired Army Colonel Bernie Liswell led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and gave background on both the Knights of Columbus and the tenth-grade essay contest tied to Memorial Day and those members of our military who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country; and high school campus minister Philip Cheung gave a closing benediction – but the evening really belonged to the deserving students and their proud families.
Aidan Mora-Monge
All ninth- and tenth-graders participated in the essay contests. The SSPP High School faculty graded the essays and provided the top seven in each category to a three-judge panel of Knights which included Colonel Liswell and Washington College Professor Joseph Prud’Homme. The judges picked the first-, second-, and third-place winners in each category, each of whom received a scholarship and other awards.
The ninth-grade winners are: First – Aidan Mora-Monge; Second – Dylan Werner; and Third – Reagan Handy.
The ninth-graders wrote 400-500-word essays on: “Jesus expressed His command of charity to us, telling us to ‘love one another.’ Explain how and why we should give of ourselves to others in this life.”
Aidan wrote: “Jesus’ command to ‘love one another’ is a profound call to selflessness and sympathy… In the end, the practice of charity is an act of our love of God and our commitment to building a better world.” Amen, Aidan.
The tenth-grade winners are: First – Samuel Radcliffe; Second – Kathryn Murphy; and Third – Lucy Olavsrud.
The tenth-graders also wrote 400-500-word essays, but on patriotism tied to Memorial Day: “Discuss one day in American history when members of our military paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country and to preserve our way of life. What does it mean to you?”
Samuel wrote about George Washington and the Continental Army escaping by boat to Manhattan from being trapped on Long Island, and thereby escaping a disaster that could have ended the Revolutionary War, due in large part to the rearguard efforts of the First Maryland Regiment, also known as “the Maryland 400.”
Reagan Handy, Dylan Werner, Aidan Mora-Monge, Samuel Radcliffe, Kathryn Murphy, Lucy Olavsrud
The first-place winners received engraved plaques, and the second- and third-place winners received citations from SSPP High School. All six winners received a beautiful formal Certificate of Achievement from the State of Maryland courtesy of State Senator Johnny Mautz (who is a member of the Regina Coeli Council of the Knights of Columbus).
Most significantly, each of the six student-winners received scholarship checks. Our thanks to those who generously funded the scholarships: Bill and Arlene Kennedy, Nate Whitaker (and his home-improvement company Precision Exteriors), Bob and Bitsy Orme, Eric and E Dee Monnen. Also, our thanks to Larry
Houck, District Deputy of the Knights of Columbus, for providing the food for the reception, and Bernie Liswell, District Warden of the Knights, for providing the plaques for the first-place winners, and to both for participating in the ceremony.
Aidan’s essay can be read here. And Samuel’s is located here.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.