NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Several Rogers students placed at the top in a poetry competition Oct. 19 during the Hispanic Heritage Festival at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Poetry winners included:
Mario Almaraz of Rogers High School, first place for his poem, “Borders.”
Paloma Guadarrama of Rogers High School, second place for her poem, “Pandillas.”
Jesus Garcia of Rogers High School, third place, for his poem, “The Gridiron.”
Kandi Garcia of Crossroads Alternative High School in Rogers, honorable mention for her poem, “Jazlin.”
Poetry entrants presented their original works before a panel of judges. Students were scored on dramatic presentation, poise, posture, pronunciation and the poem’s clarity. Winning poems will be published in next year’s edition of “Azahares,” the university’s Spanish literary magazine.
Three area schools received funds from the Limeades for Learning program, in which SONIC drive-in restaurants donated more than $500,000 to winning schools. The program is a partnership of SONIC with DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit organization that helps public school educators find resources for classroom projects they wouldn’t have funding for otherwise. More than 1,500 teachers received funding nationally in 2010.
Winners are selected by Internet users who can vote daily during September at LimeadesforLearning.com.
Winning projects locally are:
Parson Hills Elementary School in Springdale, $392.23 for “What a Tangled Mess We Weave.”
Vandergriff Elementary School in Fayetteville, $363.66for “Shake, Rattle and Ring for Joy.”
Butterfield Trail Elementary School in Fayetteville, $399.76 for “Everyone Plays, Everyone Learns” and $450.07 for part two of that project.
The Project Ignition Club at Fayetteville High School has been awarded a $2,500 Teen Drive Safety Education award from the National Youth Leadership Council and State Farm Insurance.
The presentation was made at the recent Fayetteville vs.
Springdale Har-Ber game at Bulldog Stadium. The club’s 2009-10 “It Just Takes a Second” campaign was recognized as one of 11 “leader schools” nationwide for their teen driver safety efforts, announced in March at the National Service Learning Conference in San Jose, Calif.
Award money will be used to expand the project during the current school year. Connie Crisp is the club’s faculty sponsor.
Northwest Arkansas’ Big Brothers, Big Sisters program will benefit from a $255,000 U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services grant. The award will support 10 staff members to help children in Benton, Washington, Faulkner, Independence, Jackson, Pope and Pulaski counties. They will recruit children who have a parent in prison to match them with a volunteer mentor.
The staff members will also interview and conduct background checks on participants, train volunteers and oversee the program. Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers meet with children ages 6-18, usually about three times a month, to help children succeed in school and other activities.
Our Town, Pages 16 on 10/31/2010