2006-07 Creative Writing Winners

• 1st Place - Debra Linfield (click here to read Debra's essay), Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy
• 2nd Place - Alessia Pizzorni (click here to read Alessia's essay), Nautilus Middle School
• 3rd Place -Victoria DeBlauss (click here to read Victoria's essay), Nautilus Middle School

FIRST PLACE WINNER

What can I do as an active youth to shape the future?

By Debra Linfield    

"The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth."
-- Dan Rather

When I grow up I want to be a teacher.  Teachers do not make much money, so it shows that they are not in it for financial gain, but rather to help students.  Most students think that teachers teach just to give you homework and yell at you when you are doing something wrong.  Teachers do assign homework and yell, but they also help us and influence us, and we should appreciate that.  They teach us how to deal with challenging situations and separate right from wrong.  Educating someone is important and a gigantic responsibility.

There are many children around the world that are not as lucky as we are to have a chance to go to school and to learn to read and write.  We think it is normal to wake up every morning and get ready for school.  Most of us may rather not go to school at all, but people in Asia, Africa, and other countries would do anything to be able to afford to go to school.  Only 46% of men and 23% of women in Benin, Africa know how to read and write (Upfront for teenagers).  That means that only half the men, and less than a quarter of the women are literate.  There are many other places that have even lower literacy rates.  Many Ethiopian Jews, who recently moved to Israel, are illiterate.  Just think how I could write this essay and how you can read it.

With a group that I organize and raise money for, I want to fly to a place like Benin or Israel.  From my religion I have a responsibility to help others who are in need.

"ואהבת לרעך כמוך"" "Love your neighbor like yourself."  We help one another and treat them the way we want to be treated.  If I was illiterate because I was too poor to get an education, I would want someone to help me.  I want to help the less fortunate and teach them how to read and write for free.

Even though I am still a thirteen-year-old girl, I feel like I can make a difference. Even if it is just one person I help, that can make a huge impact.  He will be able to have an easier and better life.  He might be able to get a job that pays him more because he is literate. He can teach his children, who will teach their children, and this cycle will continue throughout the generations.  If he lives for sixty more years, that is sixty years that we would have changed for the better.  A few weeks of our time can change his whole life.  We will then improve many more people's lives because we will see what a huge difference we made in one person's life, how easy it was, and how joyous he has become.  Doing this is an enormous act of kindness.  The future will be a better place to live in.

Debra Linfield,
Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy

SECOND PLACE WINNER

What can I do as an active youth to shape the future?

By Alessia Pizzorni

I was eight years old.  Just starting to understand the adult world.  Why things happened the way they did and why.  But that year, something else happened that forever changed my life.  My mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Since my sister was six and I was eight, my parents thought it would be best to keep this horrible news away from us.  But, some things were hard to ignore. The kisses at night weren't the same; our lunch boxes didn't have napkins with notes written on them, going to the park, and even dinner was awkward.  I knew something was wrong.  I noticed... I noticed that my mom, role model, and hero, was slowly fading.  The words weren't spoken, but behind closed doors I could hear the fear in my mother's voice.

For almost three years, I went through seeing my mom suffer. She tried so hard to stay strong and courageous for her family, but slowly the medication was taking over.  I believe that no family should have to go through this.  No child should see their super hero weaken.  So what can I do as an active youth to help?   I can't research in labs, or treat patients with new types of medicine.  But, Ican find a cure!  I can participate in the Walk for Hope and get individuals involved.

Wouldn't it be great having a world that you can talk about breast cancer in the past tense not the present?  I want the future generations not to worry about such a monster.

One in eight women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.  That is a lot!  Almost 13%!  That means that even if you personally do not have the cancer, you know someone who does/did.

By walking those five kilometers, we WILL find a cure. Raise money, raise awareness and most importantly erase breast cancer. Though I didn't go through chemotherapy, or endless visits to the doctor, I felt a lot of pain for my mother who had to.  Life is full of different races, and my mom was pushed without training or stretching into this race.  This is something that many women have to face.  By raising our voices we can be instrumental in finding a cure.

Fortunately my mother is cancer-free, and we are all grateful. Sadly there are other families that are not as fortunate.  This is something we need to take seriously.  We need to raise awareness, so that one day a cure will be found!

Being young doesn't mean that I can't contribute and help shape the future.  I want to mold our future, by finding a cure to breast cancer.  It is a horrible monster that nobody should have to fight.  In the future, I want breast cancer to be the prologue of the book of life.  But for right now, I have to do everything in my power to find a cure.

Alessia Pizzorni,
Nautilus Middle School

THIRD PLACE WINNER

What can I do as an active youth to shape the future?

By Victoria DeBlauss

Being an active youth does not mean just being active in the sense that you love to run and play.  The word "Active Youth" stands for a person who has the heart of a brave lion.  A person who cares about the world around them, about the future generation.  Who understands that the ability to shape the future is all in their hands.

As an active youth I am in essence the sculptor of the future Earth.  In order to make an intricate sculpture, I must first make sure the clay is pure.  When I speak of the clay I mean the Earth itself.  I must do whatever I can to help cease pollution.  I can form rallies, speak to groups of people, and of course set a good example for others to follow.  I can allocate a specific day for the community to gather in picking up the trash around our neighborhoods.  This will instill and encourage the clean and pure example I want my community to follow.

Education is a colossal factor in the shaping of our future.  If a sculptor has no knowledge of sculpting, then the sculpture will collapse.  As an active youth, I should stay in school so I can use my knowledge to help the world around me.  For example, studying medicine could help me find a cure for a cancer.  My uncle was a doctor who smoked excessively.  He passed away two years ago because of lung cancer.  With a cure my favorite uncle would've survived and my cousins wouldn't be facing as much distress as they are now.  Education not only preserves our world, it helps it flourish.

If the sculptor is intoxicated, how will they be able to even make a sculpture?  The only way the sculpture will be formed is if the sculptor stops intoxicating himself.  Drugs can change us all in horrid ways.  As an active youth I just won't do drugs.  The worst thing drugs can do to you is give you a shorter life span.  Believe it or not, your being alive just might change the future.  I should educate others in my quest for a healthier life.  I can join clubs like DFYIT (Drug Free Youth In Town) and help spread the word. Therefore, I will not only stay drug free, but encourage the peers around me to do the same!

We are the future.  Although I hate to admit it, all of the Earth is definitely in our hands.  Every time we pollute, do drugs, or drop out of school, our hands are slipping and we are hurting our future generation piece by piece.  To get a firmer grip of our world we need to stop harming ourselves and those around us.  No matter how long it takes, the sculptor will finish his sculpture.  Then the sculptor can rest easily and we can all lessen our grip on the Earth. After all, if we all work together, the world will someday be able to float on its own.

Victoria DeBlauss,
Nautilus Middle School