Elementary school students receive honors in essay contest

Trees made an impression on two Coeur d’Alene students who placed in the 10th annual Forest Products Week Essay Contest in December. Stephanie Wright, a third-grader at Skyway Elementary, and Kennedy Gelnette, a second-grader at Ramsey Elementary, both received honorable mention certificates for their grade levels from the Idaho Forest Products Commission. The contest asked students to write about how forest products touched their lives.

Stephanie’s essay, “Wood is Good for Gymnastics,” focused on the gym, where she spends 16 hours per week. She wrote that having strong and flexible wooden equipment is important to her sport. Stephanie admits that she hadn’t thought much about what was under the vinyl cover of her balance beam until working on her essay, but now appreciates that it is made from wood.

“I wouldn’t want to crash or land hard on a beam made out of metal,” she wrote. “It would hurt a lot more!”

She found the essay fun to write because it was about her gym.

“I like writing about things I like to do,” she said.

Stephanie was one of a few in her class to enter the contest. A school project was assigned by her teacher, Paula Marano. The class was asked to write about how forest products impact their lives, and Marano was struck by Stephanie’s unique approach in writing about gymnastics.

“What I was impressed with was that she thought out of the box,” Marano said. “I thought that was very clever and well done.”

Kennedy was the only child in her class to participate in the contest after her teacher sent information home as an activity parents might want to do with their child. As one who likes to write stories and poems in her spare time, it wasn’t hard to persuade the 7-year-old to enter.

“I was glad that I got to write it at home, and I really like trees,” Kennedy said. “I always liked the forest, and I always liked how pretty trees were. I like to go camping with the trees around.”

Books are a big part of Kennedy’s world, so she wrote about how important trees are in making them. She hopes to be a professional writer one day.

“The most wonderful thing that I like to write about is my family,” she said. “My family is famous for being kind.”

Words like “kind” and “loving” are common in her writings, and her teacher, Carolyn Keefer, agrees that hers is the kind of family you hope to see as a teacher.

“You make suggestions, and you hope parents grab onto it,” Keefer said. “She’s got the support there that you love to see.”

Keefer describes Kennedy as a conscientious student who always strives to do her best. Kennedy says that she likes math, reading, writing and just about everything about school, except for one thing.

“I don’t like to stand out in the rain at recess,” she said.