In an effort to share the value of water, SouthWest Water Company hosted a writing contest where five Hays CISD middle school students were named winners. The prize for the contest winners ranged from $100 to $500. Finalists were selected from Barton, Chapa, McCormick, Dahlstrom and Simon middle schools.
The winning essay was written by Dahlstrom Middle School eighth grader Rhett Bedwell who received he $500 gift card.
“Each year we look forward to seeing how students express their thoughts, opinions and ideas as they describe water’s importance in their lives and in the world,” Gary Rose, director of operations, SouthWest Water Company, Texas Utilities, said. Southwest Water Company was the sponsor of the writing contest. “It has been a pleasure to provide this contest to middle schools in Hays CISD for the past two years.”
SouthWest Water also recognized the following students as contest finalists. Each received a $100 Visa gift card:
• Donovan Santine, Barton Middle School
• Emma Adams, Chapa Middle School
• Lazurus Fernandez, McCormick Middle School
• Ashlee Goodwin, Simon Middle School
Students were encouraged to submit an expository essay that discussed various water-related topics that impact their lives or the world today. Contest scoring guidelines followed the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) rules for expository essays. A panel of Hays CISD English/Language Arts teachers scored the essays.