ADL’s Mountain States Region proudly announces the 2015 winners of their Student Essay Contest – A Tribute to Moral Courage: Standing Up Against Injustice, generously underwritten by Greenberg Traurig’s Great Hearts and Great Minds Campaign.

The winners were recognized and received their awards from ADL Board Member Andy Gurrentz, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Governor John Hickenlooper at ADL’s 34th Annual Governor’s Holocaust Remembrance Program in Denver on April 16, 2015.

Using the Holocaust as a backdrop, middle and high school students were asked to write about an individual who demonstrated moral courage, how that person’s actions had an impact on the world, and how those actions influence the students today. Twelve judges chose six winning essays from over 120 thought-provoking essays submitted from students across Colorado and Wyoming.  Read the winning essays here.

2015 Student Essay Winners and their prize-winning essays

Division I – 7-9th Grade

First Place: Aydon E., 7th Grade, Holy Family Catholic School, Grand Junction, CO

Essay Title: Malala Yousafzai

Second Place: Julianna C., 7th Grade, Holy Family Catholic School, Grand Junction, CO

Essay Title: Crossing the Border

Third Place: Morgan D., 8th Grade, Encampment K-12 School, Encampment, WY

Essay Title: Remarkable Moral Courage

Division II – 10-12th Grade

First Place: Annalia D., 10th Grade, Bridges High School, Carbondale CO

Essay Title: Inspiring Possibility

Second Place: Olivia K., 11th Grade, Bridges High School, Carbondale CO

Essay Title: Imprisoned for our Beliefs

Third Place: Abigail E., 12th Grade, Rock Solid High School, Littleton, CO

Essay Title: Corrie ten Boom: A Woman of Courage

 

Thank you to our generous underwritter:

For over 100 years, ADL has been fighting hate. Today, ADL is the nation’s premier human relations and civil rights agency combating racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry. Through this student essay contest, ADL continues that work by asking our youth to discover the past of “ordinary” heroes and connect it to their lives today in hopes that we can learn how to make a difference.