Anne Alvarado Wins Victor Baptiste Essay Contest
Huntington senior Anne Alvarado has won first place in the bilingual/native category of the 2009 American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Victor Baptiste Essay Contest.
After graduating from Huntington High School next week, Ms. Alvarado is headed to City University of New York – Baruch College to study for a career in international business. She picked up her essay contest award during a reception at Jericho High School earlier this month.
“In the beginning of the year, schools throughout Long Island were invited to select up to three of the best Spanish essays from each school,” Huntington teacher Mercedes Pena said. Huntington students Tiffany Sorensen and Marcelo Guardado also wrote “excellent essays” and represented the high school in the contest.
“Well, this year has been great for me,” Ms. Alvarado said. “I've succeeded in making the honor roll every quarter and I've done a great job of keeping up with all my classes, even French. The award ceremony was great and fun. I am very happy I won, especially because there were a lot of students from other schools that participated in it. It means a lot to me that I won it because it proves to me that I have mastered the Spanish language very well. It goes to show that I learned a lot in Mrs. Peña’s class. She is such a great teacher.”
In a letter sent to Ms. Pena, Juana Adames Pugliano, the essay contest coordinator, wrote, “Your effort and love for the Spanish language is really reflected in the students’ work and is truly enjoyed by the judges who volunteer to read these essays.”
Huntington High School teacher Joan Anderson recently assumed the presidency of the AATSP’s Long Island chapter. “She is also a remarkable Spanish teacher,” said Ms. Pena about her department colleague.
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