Delaware Interfaith Power & Light announces the winners of its 3rd annual RENEW Essay Contest.
RENEW — Reflective Essays on Nature, Earth, and their Wonders is a platform for high school students to reflect on the unique role of youth on climate action, growing concerns over environmental justice, and their personal sense of connectedness with the natural world.
Melisa Velasquez-Zunun, a junior at Sussex Central High School, was awarded the first prize scholarship of $2,000 for her essay on environmental justice. On her work with the Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy, she reflected that, “I and other younger environmentalists spent the summer working with the board on trail clean-ups while researching to inform our community about the potential dangers that runoff could lead to if nobody takes action.”
Tanisha Patel, a freshman at Delmar Senior High School, was awarded the second prize scholarship of $1,5000 for her essay on Youth Climate Action. Sharing a premonition of what could be lost, she explained, “It is this emotional reckoning that fuels my resolve, driving me to envision a role for youth, for myself, in sculpting a future where hope outshines despair.”
Rudra Patel, a freshman at Delmar Senior High School, was awarded the third prize scholarship of $1,000 for his essay on his sense of connectedness with nature. Reflecting on the image of Earth captured by Voyager1, he wrote, “This thought-provoking image reminds me of my shared existence with the wonders of nature on this tiny celestial body.”
Honorable mention scholarships of $500 were awarded to Sylvia Ibrahium, a junior at Caesar Rodney High School; Nathaniel Stenseth, a senior at Caesar Rodney High School; Dylan DeMoe, a junior at Smyrna High School; Victoria Parrish, a junior at Appoquinimink High School; Kaitlyn Mayer, a senior at Cab Calloway School of the Arts; Sudipa Chowdhury, a sophomore at Newark Charter School; and Runyi Liu, a senior at Newark Charter School.
Part of the inspiration for this project came when Delaware Interfaith Power & Light hosted Michael Nelson and Kathleen Dean Moore, co-editors of Moral Ground; Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, for its monthly webinar.
Moral Ground, first published in 2010 and recently reissued, is a collection of essays from over 80 visionaries around the globe presenting “a compelling call to honor our individual and collective moral responsibility to the planet.”
The intent of this essay contest is to hear from Delaware’s young visionaries; to encourage them to give voice to their own passions, perspectives, motivations, and hopes for the future.
“They do not suffer from a lack of will nor imagination,” said Lisa Locke, co-coordinator of RENEW, along with Delaware Interfaith Power & Light board member Charanjeet Singh Minhas.
“They understand what is at stake. The question is, do we? We need to hear from them.”
A panel of judges, joined by Moral Ground editors Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael Nelson, reviewed, and identified winning essays. Scoring was based on clarity, passion, attention to theme, creativity, and effectiveness.
An awards ceremony was held April 27 at Route 9 Library & Innovation Center in New Castle. Tekstrom Inc. has sponsored the essay contest for the past three years.
Artistic displays featuring essayists and quotes from their submissions in a variety of venues around the state are underway. The first display has gone up at RISE UP Coffee, 502 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach.
The mission of Delaware Interfaith Power & Light is to engage faith communities and community partners in addressing the causes and consequences of climate change; to scientifically inform and spiritually deepen our understanding of our relationship with the natural world - and with each other - and to act on those understandings.
For more information, visit delawareipl.org or contact Lisa Locke at lisavlocke@gmail.com.
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