STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

2004

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

Peace Essay Winners

Peace Essay Contest 2004

Unsung Heroes:  2004 Peace Essay Contest

When our children are writing the history,
Who are the heroes they’ll name?

—John McCutcheon
            The Greatest Story Never Told

The 18th annual Peace Essay Contest directed entrants to search out “unsung” heroes who have worked for peace and justice through non-violent and non-military mean:  people who do heroic things to help create peace who get little, if any, recognition. It’s an opportunity for young people to study acts of bravery, visionary thinking, and self-sacrifice. 

There were 648 entries in the 2004 PEC. Sponsored by the Modesto Peace/Life Center, the PEC is open to all  students, grades 5-12, who live or attend school in Stanislaus County.

And the winners are: Peace Essay Contest 2004

Division I (grades 11 and 12)

First Place: Renee Riley, Johansen
Second Place: Jesse Dashe, Johansen
Third Place: Erika Hernandez, Johansen
Honorable Mentions: Elizabeth Campbell & Lindsay Riley, Johansen; Alex Nabors, Riverbank
Finalists: Summer Hillas, Beyer; Erik Busby, Erin Cherry, David Greene, Timothy Hermann, Eve Meyer, Katie Negranza, Lexi Shiovitz, Carly Towers, Meredith Zweifel, Johansen; Daniel Guimaraes, Donald Mayes, Jr., Jason Munguia, & Amber Yangman, Riverbank
**School Winners: Summer Hillas, Beyer; Renee Riley, Johansen; Alex Nabors, Riverbank
**These schools submitted ten or more essays in this division and were awarded a School Winner.

Division II (grades 9 and 10)

First Place: Kanelle Barreiro, Johansen
Second Place: Amanda Phatdouang, Johansen
Third Place: Ricardo Vasquez, Johansen
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Koch, Brandon Wadlington, Tegan Wells, Johansen
Finalists: Sandeep Singh, Davis; Zach Brooks, Hughson; and from Johansen: Summer Gonella, Leslie Herrmann, Tanya Kocer, Kelsey Mummert, Kyle Perry, Ryley Plunkett, David Predeble, Jessica Ramirez, Jillian Shamoon, Nolan Smith, Alicia Weltner, Rebecca Zellman
**School Winners: Sandeep Singh, Davis; Kanelle Barreiro, Johansen Erika Fernández, Riverbank
**These schools submitted ten or more essays in this division and were awarded a School Winner.

Division III (grades 7 and 8)

First Place: Andrew Shiovitz, La Loma
Second Place: Kelsey Endo, La Loma
Third Place: Cortney Megee, Glick
Honorable Mentions: Eden Kelly & Catherine Uhalde, La Loma; Sarah Latchin, Teel
Finalists: Sara Newberry, Dutcher; Brandon Jackson, Nik Lester, & Andrea Valdivia, Glick; Mallory Abbott, Landon Burns, & Emily Ebbett, Knights Ferry; Kristin Apicella, Peter Corr-Barberis, & Lorraine Lewis, La Loma; Kelly Cearley, Roosevelt; Tiffany Johnson, Amanda Oropesa, Phoebe Tyson, & Cory Ann Wilson, Waterford
**School Winners: Kailyn Myetich, Denair; Cortney Megee, Glick; Mallory Abbott, Knights Ferry; Andrew Shiovitz, La Loma; Sarah Latchin, Teel; Amanda Oropesa, Waterford
**These schools submitted ten or more essays in this division and were awarded a School Winner.

Division IV (grades 5 and 6)

First Place: Parker Kropp, Fremont Open Plan
Second Place: Ashley Cearley, Fremont Open Plan
Third Place: Whitney Russell-Holcomb, Fremont Open Plan
Honorable Mentions: Haley Kinser, Sommerset; Lily Monson, Fremont Open Plan
Finalists: Bethany Benson, Megan Carley, Myra Crimmel, Paul Guerrero, Rose Macias, Jared Percival, Morgan Roberts, Maya Salas, Allie Sesser, & Madeleine te Velde, Fremont Open Plan; and from Somerset: Amanda Fischer, Dallas Green, Amanda Le, Baljeet Rai, and Sara Ryan.
**School Winners: Mike Adkins, Agnes Baptist; Joel Copple, Brown; Parker Kropp, Fremont Open Plan; Grayson Wiegand, Fremont; Anna Susid, Orchard; Haley Kinser, Sommerset; Vutha Huot, Sylvan
**These schools submitted ten or more essays in this division and were awarded a School Winner.

Thanks to our judges and screeners: Jim Beggs, Brad Barker, Jerry Budin, Tom Broderick, Monique Capp, Steve Collins, Jim Costello, Tina Driskill, Pam Franklin, Simeon Franklin, Elaine Gorman, Dorothy Griggs, Nancy Griggs, Barbara Manrique, Russ Matteson, Andi McGhee, Suzanne Meyer, Mike Monson, Dan Onorato, Myrtle Osner, Meg Scherfee, Ken Schroeder, Shelly Scribner, Tim Smart, Ruth Spencer, Julie TenBrink, Rachel Tyson, Patrick Wall, and all those who worked on the Harvest Supper fundraiser.

A project of the Modesto Peace/Life Center 720-13th Street, Suite D - P. O. Box 134, Modesto, California 95354-0134 - 529-5750 - peaceessay@juno.com. Co-sponsored by the Modesto Junior College Literature and Language Arts Department  

The awards reception will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2:30 p.m., at Johansen High School Theater.

ACTION: Tax-deductible donations may be made to the Modesto Peace/Life Center, designated to the Peace Essay Contest.

The 2004 Peace Essay Contest topic instructed students to discover someone who has worked for peace and justice through non-violent and non-military means but has received little recognition.. In addition to describing this person, his/her work and motivation, and the importance of this work, the writer was also to explain how this person’s experiences might inspire the writer to work towards a more peaceful and just world in which to live.

My Inspiration
By KANELLE BARREIRO
Johansen High School, Mrs. di Cristina
First Place Division II (grades 9 and 10)

Faster than a speeding bullet, it’s Super Man! As a little child I always looked up to my favorite television hero. Whether he was saving a gorgeous woman from getting run over by a train or holding up a collapsing building, Super Man was always there to save the day. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to realize that we have our very own heroes right here in our community. My hero is a man who has worked hard to make good changes to the community he loves. His ideas are beneficial to many families who don’t live in the most privileged parts of town. The ways he fights for rights are different than usual because he understands conflict and tries to solve problems through compromise.

Miguel Donoso was born in Callo, Peru, on September 29, 1948. As a young man, Mr. Donoso worked at a water-house in his hometown. He noticed that he and his coworkers were being underpaid. The workers united to change the injustice. As he learned how to work in this situation, he was inspired to do what he thought was right. He was only 17 years old when he knew he was being called to serve and make his community better.

In 1963, Mr. Donoso came to San Jose, California searching for a better future. While working there, he was even more inspired by the movement for field workers and immigrant rights lead by Cesar Chavez. He later moved to Modesto to start a family. Mr. Donoso noticed the area of Shackelford was lacking basic supplies such as crosswalks, street signs and lights, proper sewers, and sidewalks. The area was populated with high drug use, prostitution, and violence. Mr. Donoso knew he wanted to help improve these conditions.

To start making progress, Mr. Donoso knew to do “first things first”. He started small. By arranging committees to deal with certain issues, he could try solving the problems with the residents’ ideas and viewpoints. He talked to Mr. Paul Caruso, representative of this area at the time, to get the needed supplies. In less than 3 years, the Shackelford community had received streetlights, crosswalks, stop signs, and new sidewalks. Afterwards, school programs were made to keep children off the streets with fun and safe activities. A year later, gang related problems were cut a big 40%, there was a whopping 60% reduction of crimes, and less drug sales were recorded.

Mr. Donoso has had a major impact on the grateful families in the Shackelford community. He is currently working on trying to find a solution to the tallow factory problem that has polluted the air around this same community. The factory has even been proven to cause sicknesses to local residents. His determination and valued time had inspired many others to work for their rights and the rights of others. He has enhanced the ever-grateful Shackelford region, and his legacy will live on forever.

Mr. Donoso’s dedication to our community has really affected my perspective on less fortunate communities. So often we overlook little things that mean so much to the less privileged. Most of my life I have lived in fortunate neighborhoods, and I forget my roots. My own parents were immigrants who worked hard to achieve what we have now. I forgot how important the lack of sidewalks is, I never though it was a big deal. But what about those kids who walk to school? Another importance is streetlights. It makes driving easier, safer. How would my life be different if I didn’t have these things? I realize that all these minor things add up and really make a difference.

Mr. Donoso set an example by changing little things and then moving on to bigger issues. This can be easily projected into my daily life. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my responsibilities, but instead of giving up, I’ll take it step by step. He has also showed a huge amount of courage by working for his beliefs and not giving up until the right is done. I believe courage is a virtue. I’m inspired to defend my own beliefs in a peaceful manner. I want to teach people about my culture so they can understand my ideas. I’ve learned that if you have courage and respect for others, they will see you as a true leader and they will respect you.

Many people may not believe that they can do much about world peace, but there are so many things we can do to promote peace. It takes true heroes, like Miguel to be bold enough and take a stand. I now understand that world peace starts right in your home and community. If you can show the world that peace is truly possible, then maybe the world will catch on and try it, too.

Donoso, Miguel. Retired/Committee Organizer. Personal Interview. 1 December 2003.

Peace — Not Just for Hippies
By PARKER KROPP
Fremont Open Plan, Scott Gifford
First Place, Division IV

It all started when my grandma, Judy Kropp, was 5 years old and they dropped the first nuclear bombs on Japan. She was too young to worry about it then, but by the time she was ten years old, she began to think about nuclear bombs and they frightened her because she lived near San Francisco. She was sure that San Francisco would be a target if war broke out. When she was sixteen, a Japanese boy named Yoshi came to live with her family. When the bombs fell on Japan, Yoshi’s grandmother and little sister were killed and Yoshi had scars on his face. Yoshi’s dad sent him to America so he would realize that Americans were just people like him. Getting to know Yoshi helped my grandma to realize that governments are against governments but people aren’t against people.

When she went to college, she was tired of being scared, so she decided to work for peace because if there was peace, there wouldn’t be any more need for bombs. She went to peace rallies and marches. She dressed like “Main Street America” so that people wouldn’t think that only hippies were for peace. She even stood outside Lawrence Livermore Labs all by herself, holding up picket signs for peace. She likes peace marches because she is with a lot of people who are also for peace and think the way she does. She reads about what other people think and donates money to the ones who make sense to her and work for peace like she does. She balances her life by paying attention to her family while helping to make peace.

My grandma’s contribution to peace is to help make other Americans aware of our need for peace. She helped to raise the consciousness level of all the people who saw her put forth the effort to make peace. She also spent her whole teaching career being an example of peace to her students.

She inspires me because she is willing to stand up for what she believes, even if she has to stand alone. I think what she says makes sense. I agree that there should be peace in the world. I hope that in my life, I can also work for peace.