For the 22nd year, CHARACTER COUNTS! in Glenview sponsored a writing contest for students in grades 5-8. Five of the winners included District 30 students. They are Wescott School fifth-grader Vanessa He (second place), Maple School sixth-grader Katelyn Tian (first place), and Maple School seventh-graders Chloe Zhu (first place), Kristelle Widjaja (second place), and Daniel Song (third-place).
Nine hundred seventy-five submissions from 11 area schools were received. Entries were judged by a panel of educators and community leaders, led by committee member Barabra Littlefield of the Glenview Public Library.
Students were asked to write an essay on one of two topics based on the Six Pillars of the Character Counts! coalition. These pillars are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship:
1. Choose a person you admire. Write about why you admire this person, using specific examples of the way he or she demonstrates one or more of the pillars of character.
2. Describe an incident or event from which you learned a lesson “the hard way.” How has this changed you/your life? What pillars of character did you use?
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation of awards by the Glenview Village Board of Trustees had to be postponed. The winners will be presented with awards provided by Glenview Bank & Trust, Northview Bank & Trust, Glenview Optimists, and Image Specialties.
Fifth grade
1st place — Jayda Nyanue, St. Catherine Labouré School
2nd place — Vanessa He, Wescott School
3rd place — Alexis Northrip, Glen Grove School
Sixth grade
1st place — Katelyn Tian, Maple School
2nd place — Lila Harrigan, Attea Middle School
3rd place — Maia Weissman, Attea Middle School
Seventh grade
1st place — Chloe Zhu, Maple School
2nd place — Kristelle Widjaja, Maple School
3rd place — Daniel Song, Maple School
Eighth grade
1st place — Maggie Dominik, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
2nd place — Nora Albee, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
3rd place — Julia Cerimele, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
Grade level winners have been posted to the Character Counts! web page at http://ccglenview.org/?p=671
