Schools

Stow High School Student Winner in National Essay Contest

Adam Lipnichan, a senior at Stow-Munroe Falls High School, earned an honorable mention in a nationwide essay contest.

Adam Lipnichan, a senior at , earned an honorable mention and $100 for his essay on American perseverance in the fifth annual Being an American Essay Contest.

In the essay, students had to answer the question,“What civic value do you believe is most essential to being an American?”

"In his winning essay, Lipnichan selected perseverance as the civic value topic of his essay and thought Cassius Clay, also known as Muhammad Ali, considered the greatest heavyweight boxing champion of all time, most embodied the American character," a press release from Being an American stated."

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In his essay Lipnichan wrote, "Most people in America may try and fail hundreds or even thousands of times, but they finally persevere and eventually reach a goal. Whether it is the whole country trying to avoid a war, a 17-year-old boy getting his Eagle Scout or one of the most unlikely young men to go on and become one of the greatest fighters and champions in the history of boxing, every American at some point will push through some of the hardest challenges of life and persevere. That is why perseverance is one of America's greatest values.”

Twenty-four thousand students participated in the essay contest.

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"This is the second year that I have assigned the 'Being an American Essay' assignment," said Trina Poole, Stow-Munroe Falls High School teacher. "My initial was the hope that students would win some money for college.  This is now the second year that one of my students won honorable mention."

Students at the high school spent three days in the library researching civil values and reading past essays and gathering information on historical figures.

"Students were free to choose the civic value, historical figure and document," said Poole. 

More than 80,000 students attending public and private high schools, and home-schooled students from all 50 states, have participated in the Being an American Essay Contest to date, with nearly half-a-million dollars in prize money being awarded to winning students and their teachers.

For more information on the Being an American Essay Contest, click here.


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