30th Annual Austin ISD African American Heritage Celebration

Student Essay Winners
The African
American Heritage
Compostion contest
is open to all fourth
grade students
in AISD schools.
Submissions are
reviewed by a panel
of judges from the
AISD Department
of Curriculum staff
and the Austin
Public Library. While
all submissions
are winners, the
following are the top
five.
First Place
Zoe Vardys
Davis Elementary School
A Bright Future for All (Winning Essay)
Educated leaders are important to our future. All leaders have influence and are in charge, and that is why
they need to be well-educated.
Leaders are very important because they keep us safe. Firefighters and police officers help with this job.
The president and government make rules and laws that help keep their countries safe. People would go
crazy without rules. Leaders also help keep the environment clean and healthy. If leaders did not keep the
environment healthy then there would be no future because there would be trash and pollution everywhere.
Our future depends on the leaders we have and the education they receive. A good education is important
because it helps them understand other cultures, be able to deal with conflict, be prepared for emergencies,
and have an understanding of laws of the countries they lead.
One way t produce great leaders is to keep kids in school. Principals should reward good students with
a special field trip, especially if they have good attendance. A way to keep continuing their education by
attending college is to make college more affordable. Many kids don’t go because it is very expensive. Also,
there should be college prep in the last year of high school. This should be required and it would be very
hard, like college.
Now you can see why our future and the educated leaders that make the world run smoothly are so
important. Great leaders equal a great future for everyone.
Zoe Vardys
Student: Zoe Vardys
Teacher: Molly Hornbuckle
Principal: Jennifer Daniel
11 / AISD 30 h Annual African American Heritage Celebration