KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� May 23, 2013 鈥� A Jamestown eighth grader won first place in the 溏心vlog免费B站 Gandhi Essay Contest for his essay titled 鈥淭he Ripple Effect of Ahimsa: Gandhi鈥檚 Beliefs in Action.鈥� Alex Supron, who attends St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School in Newport, was recognized at an award ceremony on May 1 at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Multicultural Center.
Sponsored annually by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, the essay contest received 88 submissions this year, from 13 public and private schools. Twenty-one eighth grade students with the top scoring essays were recognized as finalists at the award ceremony.
Supron鈥檚 essay focused on the importance of considering other people鈥檚 needs and serving humanity. He discussed how people can apply this philosophy to everyday life and, particularly, how he and his peers at St. Michael鈥檚 participate in community service and charity work.
St. Michael鈥檚 students Victoria Boatwright of Newport and MaryAnn Rompf of Newport won second place. The third place winners were Sydney Jenkins, a Hope resident who attends Moses Brown School in Providence, Jessica McDonald, a Tiverton resident who attends St. Philomena School in Portsmouth, and Ava Sheldon, who attends Winman Junior High School in Warwick.
A complete list of finalists and their schools is below. Tim McMahon, a teacher at St. Michael鈥檚, had an impressive seven students place as finalists in the essay contest.
The Gandhi Judging Committee consisted of Paul Bueno de Mesquita, Center director and a psychology professor; Ruby Roy Dholakia, a marketing and supply chain management professor and contest founder; Dilip Datta, a mathematics professor emeritus; Nikhilesh Dholakia, a marketing and supply chain management professor; Diane Kern, an associate professor in the School of Education; Tia Lahiri, mother of Pulitzer prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri; Clay Sink, a management professor emeritus; and Indu Suryanarayan, a mathematics professor emeritus.
Also on hand was Ghasi Ram Verma, mathematics professor emeritus, who assisted with the presentation of the Center鈥檚 鈥淐ompassion and Selfless Service to Others鈥� award to finalist Andrew Lopresti, an 8th grade student at St. Michael鈥檚 and resident of Newport.
The Gandhi Essay Contest is sponsored by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies. The Center also thanks the 溏心vlog免费B站 School of Education, the 溏心vlog免费B站 Multicultural Center, professor Diane Kern, and her secondary education students for their help in making this annual contest and event possible.
2013 Gandhi Essay Contest Finalists:
Lydia Beal, honorable mention, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Andrew Binder, honorable mention, The Gordon School, East Providence
Victoria Boatwright, second place, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Allie Brennan, honorable mention, Winman Junior High School, Warwick
Casey Gannon, honorable mention, Winman Junior High School, Warwick
Deirdre Irvine, honorable mention, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Sydney Jenkins, third place, Moses Brown School, Providence
Gwendolyn Kalian, honorable mention, Winman Junior High School, Newport
Michael Kodua, honorable mention, Slater Junior High School, Pawtucket
Andrew LoPresti, honorable mention, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Aubrianna Majewski, honorable mention, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Jessica McDonald, third place, St. Philomena School, Portsmouth
Haley Pollock, honorable mention, Winman Junior High School, Warwick
MaryAnn Rompf, second place, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Julia Sharma-Mathias, honorable mention Winman Junior High School, Warwick
Ava Sheldon, third place, Winman Junior High School, Warwick
Meghan Smith, honorable mention, St. Philomena School, Portsmouth
Eliana Stein, honorable mention, Winman Junior High School, Warwick
Alex Supron, first place, St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day School, Newport
Vanessa Varone, honorable mention, Sacred Heart School, East Providence
Ariana Wynn, honorable mention, Park View Middle School, Cranston
This press release was written by Danielle Sanda, an intern in 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Department of Marketing and Communications and a public relations major.
Pictured above:
Alex Supron, a St. Michael鈥檚 Country Day school eighth grader from Newport, R.I. won first place in 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Gandhi Essay Contest.
溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Gandhi Essay Contest recognized its 21 finalists at an award ceremony May 1. Pictured here, from left to right, are the students who attended the ceremony : (front row) Jessica McDonald, Allie Brennan, Julia Sharma-Mathia, Deirdre Irvine, MaryAnn Rompf, Lydia Beal, Victoria Boatwright, Ariana Wynn, Alex Supron and Andrew Binder; (second row) Meghan Smith, Eliana Stein, Haley Pollock, Casey Gannon, Gwendolyn Kalian, Andrew LoPresti, Vanessa Varone and Michael Kodua.
Photos by Michael Salerno Photography.