The Essay Contest

The CT COLT Essay Contest is an annual event open to students whose teachers are members of CT COLT.  The goals for the Essay Contest are:

• To offer students a voice with regard to world language education and policies, in addition to recognizing excellence in research, documentation, and writing.
• To have an exemplary piece of writing that CT COLT may use for advocacy; to that end, the essay needs to be in English.

Each year, the Essay Contest has a different theme, as well as a series of prompting questions that will help students compose their work. It is to be in either letter or essay format, consisting of no more than two typed, double-spaced pages. Writers are encouraged to include their own viewpoints and personal experience as it pertains to the essay topic.

• 2022: Deeping Connections Across Languages, Cultures, and CommunitiesMS Winner
  Student: Shreysht Rajesh
  Public School: Irving A. Robbins Middle School
  Tamil Language School: Agaram Tamil Padasalai
  Teacher: Vijayalakshmi GortyHS Winner
  Student: Juliana Assis
  School: Shelton High School
  Teacher: Amy Conklin
• 2021 Celebrating Languages and Learners with Inclusivity and Diversity; Tristan Ward of New Haven Academy, New Haven Public Schools; Teacher Mr. Luis Rivera; Contest Chairpersons John R. Rook and Judith Ojeda.
• 2019 The Journey to Proficiency:  Heidi Chappell of Stonington High School, Teacher Mrs. Lea Graner Kennedy, Contest Chair John R. Rook
• 2018 Being Multilingual: Making My Dreams Come True:  Alina Vigdorchik of Southington High School, Teacher Ms. Kristin Bellis, Contest Chair John R. Rook
• 2017 World Languages:  A Can-Do Mindset: Jessica Buslewicz of Newington High School, Teacher Ms. Stephanie Sanzo, Contest Chairs James Wildman, John R. Rook, and Christine Dombrowski
• 2016 Building Proficiency in Today’s Digital Natives:  Carly Brown of North Haven High School, Teacher Mrs. Brownell, Contest Chairs Christine Dombrowski and John R. Rook
• 2015 Lead with Languages: Global Skills for a Competitive Edge:  Natalia Gimenez of Southington High School, Teacher Mr. Bartoletti, Contest Chairs John R. Rook and Christine Dombrowski
• 2014 Students considered the following quotation by Nelson Mandela:  “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” :  Abigail Beech of Wilbur Cross High School, Teacher Ms. Angeliki Giannopoulos, Contest Chairs John R. Rook and Christine Dombrowski
• 2013 Students explained why they chose to study world languages:  Hanna Kahlert of the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering in Stamford, Teacher Ms. Kelly Angileri, Contest Chair Manuela Wagner, Ph.D.