Do you remember an assignment earlier this year that was named the Holocaust Writing Contest? If so, you’ll remember watching a testimony of a survivor of the Holocaust and creating either prose or poetry relating to the prompt. It wasn’t too long ago that HMSA’s English teachers chose the best writing that students submitted and declared them HMSA’s winners for the contest.

This year’s theme for the contest was “Telling It Forward: Making Memories Matter” and a few students from our school were able to truly make each of their works one of a kind. The following students have earned congratulations and praise for being the winners that represented HMSA: Freshman Agnes V., Sophomore Damon C., Junior Silvia G., and Junior Mohamad R. (Honorable Mention). 

On March 4th, these lucky students were taken on a field trip and attended the 17th Annual Holocaust Art and Writing Contest awards ceremony at Chapman University (in Orange, California). They attended the event alongside Ms. Enger, Ms. Siegler, and their parents. The contest is held by the university and the 1939 Club, the organization that represents Holocaust survivors and those related to the survivors. The contest is open to all middle and high schools students; this year, around two hundred schools across the U.S. and even a few other countries around the world participated. Upon arrival to Chapman, students were led into the Memorial Hall to hear who the winners were. After, the students were able to meet admirable Holocaust survivors and hear about their amazing and unbelievable stories during the most unfortunate time in history.

Junior Silvia Gonzalez was one of the attendees and I got to speak with her about the whole experience. I asked how the overall trip was for her: “The experience was one like never before. Knowing that only a few feet away were actual Holocaust survivors made my heart rush. It was also heartwarming to know that hundreds of students came up with prose and artwork dedicated to some of the survivors in the room.”  I also asked if she expected that she would win the contest for the school: “Honestly, I didn’t expect to win… I wouldn’t consider myself proud for winning, I consider myself lucky.”  

I also got to speak with Agnes Villaroman, the only freshman who won from HMSA. However, she wasn’t only a winner from our school, but was actually named Honorable Mention in the contest conducted by Chapman University. I asked her what it was like to know she was a finalist for the contest and she replied with: “I was really excited! I was holding my mom’s hand because I was nervous and I couldn’t believe it. Just to have my name being called was really exciting.” Then I asked her what it was like to meet the survivors, and she rapidly said, “For me it was exciting because it was like talking to walking history books. It’s cool how they were so nice and happy even after all they went through.”
If you want to read any of the students’ work, they are displayed on the wall near Ms. Morris’ classroom. Finally, a last congratulations to all the four winners of the contest. Thank you for truly preserving the memories and making them matter to all of us today.