The 2009 National Essay Contest
By Evan Brengle
O
n December 9th at the American Corner in Skopje, an award ceremony was held to recognize the winners of this year’s national
essay contest, as well as to express our gratitude to all those who helped make the project a success. This fourth annual contest
was a collaborative project between members of the English Language Teachers’ Association of Macedonia (ELTAM) and Peace
Corps volunteers. In October, workshops were held in eleven regions throughout Macedonia for English teachers to discuss the topic
of teaching essay writing. These workshops provided a valuable opportunity to encourage and develop methods of instruction for
this important skill while also promoting networking and exchange of information among colleagues. To prepare students for the
contest, many instructors incorporated lessons on essay writing into their regular English classes, or offered extra lessons in their
free time. Not only were students taught how to compose quality essays, they were also asked to engage in thoughtful consideration
of this year’s topic: Unsung Heroes. As such, students examined the qualities and behaviors that make someone a hero, and crafted
essays illustrating examples of such people from their personal lives. 285 essays were submitted to the contest and then judged
regionally. The highest scoring essays from each region were judged again at a national level, resulting in the selection of three
national winners, one for each of the three age groups. These winners along with their parents or instructors were invited to the
ceremony at the American Corner. Representatives from ELTAM, the Peace Corps, the
U.S. embassy, and the American Corner were in attendance to honor the achievements
of these students, as well as the contributions of their teachers.
While students were given instruction on approaches to successful essay
writing and were possibly guided in discussions on the topic, instructors were asked
not to correct their students’ work. The essays may contain minor mistakes in grammar
or spelling, but it is significant that the overall high quality of the writing is very much
the product of the students’ individual efforts. The winning essays appear here exactly
as written by the students. Congratulations again to our national winners, as well as our
regional finalists and all participants. Also, thank you to everyone who helped with this
project as trainers, instructors, judges, and regional or national coordinators.
From Left to Right, Back: Evan Brengle, Jennifer Sandstrom, Olivera Trajkova (Coordinator for the American Corner in Skopje), Stephen Kutzy, John Surface (Representative
from the U.S. Embassy). Front: Liljana Mitkovska (ELTAM National Coordinator for the Essay Contest), Aleksandra Mladenovi? (Category A National Winner), Viktorija
Spasovska (Category B National Winner), Aleksandra Stojkovska (Category C National Winner), Elizabeta Hristovska Iceva (ELTAM President)
The 2009 Winners:
Aleksandra Mladenovi? – Kumanovo
Category A National Winner
Unsung Heroes
Of all the people who love me and of all the people I love dearly, only one is a hero in my eyes. The person I consider
my hero has a heart bigger than the universe, eyes prettier than the sky and a soul deeper than the deepest ocean. There is no
need of trying to guess who that person is, for it is my mother.
When we mention the word “mother” we think of the woman who brought us to this world and has been taking care
of us since we were barely walking. However, my mother means much more to me. Many events when my mother helped
me will always remind me how special she is, but there is one event I will remember for the rest of my life.
One cold Sunday morning while crystal snowflakes were covering the land and turning everything white, something
unexpected happened. My sister and I were playing in our warm room, when the cooker started to make as strange noise.
First, I thought I had imagined the sound and ignored it. However, the thing I could not possibly ignore was the strange smell
coming from the kitchen. The whole room was already full of thick smoke. My younger sister came crying after me. We were
both terrified, so not knowing what to do or how to react, we desperately, sat on the ground hugging each other. The smoke
had already spread all over the entire house so we could not breathe properly any more. While I was desperately trying to find
the keys, I saw my sister Angela, who was so pale, which scared me even more. That is why I thought of breaking one of the
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