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Every year, there are one or two entries that, even though they aren't among the official winners, are winners in my heart. This year, one such entry came from Nolan Winters, 13, about his grandmother Mary Ann Skocypec, who recently passed away after being diagnosed with cancer. Nolan had interviewed his grandmother over the last few months, across the 2,000 miles that separated them. "I realized how much I didn't know about her and how many things I wanted to learn about her. So I e-mailed her questions and she
e-mailed me back some answers. We talked on the phone about some of the questions and when I visited her, we talked some more. I have lots of answers to lots of questions and know more about her now than ever."
Nolan was there the day his grandmother died, which happened to be his birthday. "She was thoughtful and sang me 'Happy Birthday' on the day she died. She knew her life was coming to an end soon. We all did. Yet she made sure to wish me a happy birthday." Nolan's experience touched a very personal chord with me because my grandmother and I had a little tradition: every birthday, she would make sure to be the very first to call me and sing me 'Happy Birthday.' Even though she has been gone for several years, I can still hear my grandmother singing 'Happy Birthday' to me. Those are the memories we keep close to our heart.
Then there are the entries that are full of energy and fun! Katie Kalbach, 14, submitted an essay titled "Let Them Eat Cake!" about her grandmother Nancy. Says Katie, "On gloomy, rainy days, [my grandmother and I] make a dark chocolate cake with raincloud decorations. Conversely, when it's sunny, we make a bright, almost neon-colored cake. Every time we'd bake, she always had a song to sing. If it wasn't a song to sing, it was a story to share. 'Let them eat cake!' my grandma would always say when our creation was baked and 'totally tricked out.' And, of course, we'd eat the cake. My grand-mother's legacy is that she's taught me to sing, to bake, and maybe even a little history. She made it exciting, and that's what I always love about her. I'll make sure her legacy goes on forever!"
I wish I could highlight more entries. The quality of the essays in this year's Listen to a Life Contest was excellent. So many creative stories, funny stories, heartwarming stories – all making for a great read for the judging committee and difficult choices to select the official winners. The Grand Prize in this contest is nice –
a specially autographed copy of the book that inspired the contest, Dream; a framed keepsake award certificate from Frame USA featuring the winning entry; a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer; an iPod Classic with video from Orchard Software; and $800 (for the winning team) plus $25,000 (for the school the winning entrant attends) of educational software from Orchard Software. And the
20 runner-up prizes of an iPod Shuffle and $400 of Orchard Software are also great. But, I've said it before: everyone who enters this contest is a winner, because they've listened and learned from a life. I'm a big believer in learning about real life from real people, and that's why we run this contest every year.
The Listen to a Life Contest has sparked some wonderful long-term relationships. We've been in regular touch with Shelly Kennedy over the years, a teacher at Waterloo Elementary School in Indiana. The contest prompted her to start an ongoing program between her students and seniors in the community. I often tell the story of a letter I received from one of her grade 5 students the first year she got involved in the contest. "Last week," he started, "We visited the coolest place on earth: the Betz Nursing Home!" When is the last time you heard a nursing home described as the "coolest place on earth?" That's cool. Obviously, Shelly Kennedy's students are overcoming the stereotypes and forging relationships that will stay with them through their lifetime.
I want to thank Shelly Kennedy and teachers like her for all their work, and I want to thank every one of the thousands of young people, grandparents and grandfriends who took the time to participate in this year's contest.
For this annual contest, a young person 8-18 interviews an older adult 50 years or over about their life experiences – their dreams and goals, obstacles they overcame, and how they found hope – and submits a 300-word essay. This year, we have winners spanning from Los Angeles to New York. The youngest entrants were 8 years old; the oldest was Great-Grandmother Florence Ruth Wilson at 104 years. Says her grandson Cameron Gonsalves, 11, "She may not be able to drive, but she sure rocks a wheelchair!"
One of the interesting things that struck me in many entries this year was the theme of the importance of education. For example, Grandma Rosemary Guerriero told her granddaughter Olivia Pierce, 14, that "education is the door to finding your place in life and to understanding people better, so pay attention in school!" Grandma Rosemary, thanks for the perfect introduction to the Legacy Project's new Dreaming New Ways of Learning community initiative, developed to engage students, involve parents, and reenergize teachers. Do you mind if
I quote you?
The Listen to a Life Contest and the Legacy Project's other programs and resources have become a regular part of many classrooms.
Kathy Webb at Horace Mann Middle School in Wisconsin has entered the contest for several years: "Thank you, once again, for providing students with an important opportunity to connect with an older generation and learn valuable lessons."
Says Julie Madlin at the Heuvelton Central School District in New York: "Thank you for offering this contest. I have been doing family trees with my students for 14 years and three years ago added this contest. It's a valuable learning experience for my seventh graders, so please continue to have this contest!"
Mary Ann Richter is a Gifted Education Teacher with Hamilton City Schools in Ohio. She writes, "Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 set out to learn from the past by interviewing a senior citizen in their community and writing a story that developed from this interview. The results were fantastic, informative stories. But besides that, students developed a sincere camaraderie, a partnership, that will last for many years to come, and maybe forever. Students have developed a better appreciation for the person they interviewed. It was a great learning experience for senior and student."
Says Linda Cugini at Sandalwood High School in Florida, "My students sincerely enjoyed experiencing and writing for the Listen to a Life Contest. As a teacher and counselor, I particularly appreciated this 'melding of the generations' through speaking, listening, and writing."
Mary Korzan at Queen of Peace School in Indiana says, "Thank you for the opportunity to engage my students in such a meaningful assignment. New relationships were forged and existing relationships were enhanced. I hope to have my students participate in this essay contest as long as you have the contest and as long as I am teaching."
Nancy LeClair at Benjamin A. Friedman Middle School in Massachusetts involved her sixth grade students in the contest: "First I want to say how much my students enjoyed this project. It was a springboard towards additional endeavors. We read the Dream book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Second, I took my class to a local nursing home to interview the residents. Both the students and the residents gained from this experience. This project led us into another and we ended up raising money to buy a Nintendo Wii system for the nursing home during the holiday season. Indeed, your project really inspired us to get to know and to help another life."
Kathleen Bisson at Holy Name High School in Massachusetts explains how she uses the contest: "To kick off the interview project and to give my students practice interviewing people over fifty, I scheduled two sessions for my students. During our first session, I invited our school librarian to come to our class and during our second session I invited the Bishop of Worcester to visit with us. The students enjoyed getting the different perspectives each of these guests have on their life. The students were then challenged to find their own fifty plus person for their third interview. Thank you so much for sponsoring this wonderful contest. It is always a stimulating component of my second semester Creative Writing class. My twelfth graders sat in a circle with me and sensitively took us on a walk down memory lane through the diverse voices of their interviewees. It was most enjoyable to hear the stories of people who have touched the lives of my students."
Theresa Johnson, a sixth-grade teacher at Maple Point Middle School in Pennsylvania, entered her students for the third year: "We read and discussed the amazing book Dream, and my students made Dream Stars, which hang above their desk to remind them of their hopes and dreams for their future. We learned about interviewing techniques. Finally, my students spent precious time with their grandparents and grandfriends before sitting down to write their essay. Some of the comments from my students were so touching that I have to share a few of them with you. One girl told me that her grandmother cried when she asked her if she could interview her for this project. Another student explained that he didn't know his grandfather had such a fascinating life: "I knew him my entire life, but I never really knew his life story!" One boy told me that because of this assignment, he is going to continue to write down the life stories of his family in order to preserve them for his children to enjoy. What more could a teacher hope for!"
Involved teachers, and willing grandparents and grandfriends, help this contest connect and change lives. The contest wouldn't be possible without some other very important people. A sparkling thank you to our corporate sponsors who provide such wonderful prizes for the contest. Lenovo has been with us from the start, providing a computer as the Grand Prize. Frame USA gives us beautiful frames for the award certificates featuring each winning essay. And Orchard Software provides not only prizes for all the winning students, but a special additional prize for the Grand Prize winner's school, which means that the contest can enrich the lives of so many more students over many years.
Then there's a man who deserves a parade complete with confetti and streamers. Jim Barry has been an integral part of the judging committee for many years now, my right-hand man judging this contest. I truly don't know what I'd do without him. He brings heart to his judging, is thorough and leaves no detail unnoticed, and puts in hours and hours of work to make sure we get the fairest and best possible end result.
So, enjoy reading the winning stories in the 2008-2009 Listen to a Life Contest. Click below to find out the Grand Prize winner and twenty runners-up. The runners-up are presented in no particular order, other than a good read. And check back on the Legacy Project website in September, when the next contest starts!
With warm wishes,
Susan V. Bosak
Chair, Legacy Project
Click here to go to the 2008-2009 Listen to a Life Contest Grand Prize winner and the 20 Runners-up |
