Miguel Suarez of Nicaragua, a GED recipient and student in Sarah Mittelholzer’s level 7 English class at the Carlos Rosario School, has been selected as one of five finalists in the 14th Annual Women’s History Month Essay Contest. His essay, titled “Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Made History,” paid tribute to the beloved civil rights leader. The contest was sponsored by the DC Literacy, Education, Advocacy, and Resource Network (DC LEARNs) and the Adult Literary Resource Center at the District’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.

Joining Miguel as winners of this District-wide competition were 14 of his classmates from Ms. Mittelholzer’s class. Three of these students – Mario Garcia from El Salvador, Jemal Mohammed from Ethiopia, and Manaza Outtara from the Ivory Coast, received honorable mentions. The following 11 Rosario students were named runners up: Elda Carcache, Jesus Casiano, Sergio Chaves, Javier Diaz, Asheber Mamo, Eduardo Martin, Allen Melendez, Aynalem Muleneh, Bladimir Rodriguez, Delelu Tessama, and Luz Villegas. Remarkably, more than 40 percent of the winners were Carlos Rosario School students!

An awards ceremony was held on April 26, with each winner receiving a gift certificate and the book I Can Make a Difference. As a finalist, Miguel also received a dictionary. All of the essay winners were asked to read their essays at the awards ceremony. Ms. Mittelholzer’s entire evening class attended the event and found the readings to be quite inspirational.

Congratulations to Miguel and all of the Carlos Rosario School’s essay contest winners!

To download a copy of the essay, click here