2001
Essay/Poetry Contest
Rebekah Ellingson, Grade 4
Teacher: Ms. Judi King
Ms. Jane Carretta
Robson Elementary
Mesa Unified District
First Place
Intermediate (Grades 3-5)
“She's too old. She shouldn't be working that hard.” People might say that kind of thing but my grandmother, Barbara Ellingson, will work as hard as she can to help others.
One of the people she helped was my second cousin, Georgia. Georgia was in a mental hospital that didn't take care of her very well. My grandmother took her in to her house to care for her for many years. She also did even more than just take care of her. She treated her like her own daughter, taught her all she needed to know, and helped her to be as normal as possible.
I think it is so neat how my grandmother made friends with Native Americans by serving them. She could help them so much because she lived by them on the reservation for a year and a half. She would also take them for errands and rides to town and help them with their problems.
Another way my grandmother has given service is just by helping lots of people in our community, including us. She has given food to lots of people. She has always taught us many things. She puts in three days a week to help our church and she even took in a lady who needed a place to stay for several weeks. Martin Luther King had a dream that one day everyone would be kinder to each other. My grandmother is a person who does just that.