24 schoolchildren win statewide MLK poster-essay contest at ASU

TEMPE, Ariz. - Twenty-four schoolchildren from around the state have won awards in ASU's annual Martin Luther King Jr. poster-essay contest. They will receive savings bonds and prize ribbons from ASU President Michael Crow at a celebration breakfast Jan. 28 at Tempe Mission Palms Hotel.

Peterson Zah, former president of the Navajo Nation who has helped double the Native American student population at ASU, will be awarded the university's 2008 Servant Leadership Award. Kelley Stewart of Mesa will receive the student Servant Leadership Award.

All the winning posters will be displayed at the event, and four children will read their first-place essays to the group. Also invited to the awards ceremony are their parents and teachers. More than 1,200 children entered the contest, each describing someone they know who leads through service to others.

The posters will be on display through January in the Tempe campus Memorial Union and the Polytechnic campus Student Union.

The contest categories are primary, grades K-2; intermediate, grades 3-5; middle, grades 6-8; and secondary, grades 9-12. Following is a list of winners.

Mesa – Chelsea Contreras, second grader, Franklin Northeast Elementary, second place poster, primary category; Taylor Price, second grader, Franklin Northeast Elementary, third place poster, primary category; Jasmin Forney, senior, Westwood High School, third place poster, secondary category; Ryan Weitz, second grader, Franklin Northeast, first place essay, primary category; Azul Pedraza, second grader, Franklin Northeast, second place essay, primary category; Malie Enos, second grader, Franklin Northeast, third place essay, primary category; Olivia Wilson, fifth grader, Franklin Northeast, first place essay, intermediate category; Kris Enos, fifth grader, Madison Elementary, second place essay, intermediate category; Amy Tarnowski, eighth grader, Poston Junior High, first place essay, middle school.

Scottsdale – Cody Colclasure, seventh grader, Ingleside Middle School, first place poster, middle school category; Nathalie Vitale, eighth grader, Mountainside Middle School, second place poster, middle school; Sarah Atchinson, eighth grader, Mountainside Middle School, third place poster, middle school; Emily Kaplan, seventh grader, Cocopah Middle School, second place essay, middle school; Mikaela Gibson, sophomore, Chaparral High School, first place essay, secondary category; Shayna Steingard, sophomore, Chaparral High School, second place essay, secondary category; Brad Efune, sophomore, Chaparral High School, third place essay, secondary category.

Phoenix – Andres Saldana, second grader, C.W. Harris Elementary, Cartwright District, first place poster, primary category; Tatum Cork, third grader, Madison Traditional Academy, Madison District #38, third place essay, intermediate category.

Glendale – Brandon Stout, eighth grader, Desert Heights Charter, third place essay, middle school.

Tucson – Connie Ko, senior, University High School, first place poster, secondary category; Leah Edwards, sophomore, University High School, second place poster, secondary category.

Tolleson – Chris Carbajal, fifth grader, Country Place Elementary, Littleton Elementary District #65, second place poster, intermediate category.

Lakeside –McKay Keith, fourth grader, Blue Ridge Middle School, first place poster, intermediate category.

Vernon – Rebecca Luttrell, fourth grader, Vernon Elementary, third place poster, intermediate category.