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E-mail This StoryThe World Affairs Council named the winners of its 2008 DFW International Airport Essay Contest. Four of the top 10 finalists were students of Plano ISD.
Michael Button, senior at Plano East Senior High School, won first-place honors in the contest for his essay addressing democracy in the Middle East.
Visakha Suresh and Amber Khan, juniors at Plano West Senior High School, took second and third place, respectively. Suresh won a $500 prize with an essay also addressing democracy in the Middle East. Khan won $250 for an essay on the 2015 U.N. Millennium Goals.
Sachim Sharma, sophomore at Williams High School, took eighth place in the contest.
“Never before in our history has international awareness been more important,” said Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport CEO Jeffrey Fegan. “Through this essay contest, we are encouraging the youth of North Texas to think and learn about the most pressing global issues that we face today. Our students must be prepared to live and work in a much smaller world.”
“Each of these student's essays shows not only an impressive ability to put ideas on paper, but also an amazing capacity for critical thinking about the most important issues facing our world today,” said World Affairs Council President Jim Falk.
Dr. Doug Otto, Plano ISD superintendent, thinks the students’ sweeping wins brings very positive attention to Plano and Plano schools.
“We are always proud of Plano ISD students who excel in various competitions,” Otto said. “We commend these students for writing such outstanding essays on these very timely topics.”
The DFW International Airport Essay Contest, presented by the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth and sponsored by The Dallas Morning News, offered high school students across North Texas the opportunity to write about their opinions regarding global issues. The students were asked to write a 750-1,000 word essay on one of three topics covering international social, economic or political issues.
The students’ essays were judged by local dignitaries in two rounds. The first-round judges included: Robert Edison, Dallas ISD social studies coordinator; Lillian Pinkus, regional vice president of North Haven Gardens; Mervyn Sambles, vice president of corporate development for Fluor Corporation; and Dr. Patricia Crisp and Dr. Earl Crisp, U.S. Department of Education.
The final round judges included: Sonya Bridges, assistant vice president of information technology services for DFW International Airport; The Honorable Robert Jordan, attorney at Baker Botts L.L.P.; Steve LeVine, foreign affairs correspondent for BusinessWeek; Tod Robberson, editorial writer for The Dallas Morning News; and Frank Roby, CEO of Holmes Murphy Financial.
Established in 2004 with a seed grant from the Eugene McDermott Foundation, the contest is conducted by the World Affairs Council’s International Education Initiative, which was designed to bring world affairs into high school classrooms across North Texas. Currently, the International Education Initiative impacts more than 100,000 high school and college students through teacher workshops, the International Essay Contest, Academic WorldQuest competition, educator and student forums and other outreach activities, such as the Portrait of Turkey program.
Thousands of students and teachers annually attend council events. Affiliated Junior World Councils now exist at 33 high schools and universities throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Founded in 1951, the nonprofit, nonpartisan World Affairs Council offers the public and its more than 3,300 member opportunities to learn firsthand from world leaders, policymakers, ambassadors, journalists and world affairs experts. It presents more than 100 programs annually to enlighten and entertain North Texans and impacts more than 100,000 students each year through its International Education Initiative.
The council coordinates visits to North Texas delegations and leaders from around the globe through the administration of its State Department-sponsored International Visitor Program and the city of Dallas Office of Protocol.
Information on the World Affairs Council is available at www.dfwworld.org.
Contact Kim Nguyen at knguyen@acnpapers.com
