Four 12th graders win scholarships in Amendment 4 Essay Contest

By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic

Photography: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO | FC

MIAMI | Four 12th grade students from Archdiocese of Miami High Schools won scholarships in the Amendment 4 Essay Contest for Respect Life Month, celebrated in October.

The awards consisted of scholarships to be used for college education at the students’ chosen universities: $3,000 for first place, $2,500 for second place, and $2,000 for third place.

The scholarship winners were: first place, Anabella Alvarez of St. Brendan High School in Miami; second place, David Sanchez of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale; and third place, Anette Labrada of Immaculata La Salle High School in Miami and Caterina Arner of Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami.

The first-place award was presented at a small ceremony at St. Brendan's High School Nov. 5.

Katie Blanco Bourdeau, Cabinet Secretary for Development, Stewardship, and Communications at the Archdiocese of Miami, presented first-place winner Anabella Alvarez with a $3,500 scholarship certificate on behalf of Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

“Archbishop Wenski is very proud of all the students who participated in the essay contest. Most especially of Annabella,” Blanco Bourdeau said. “The selection committee was very impressed by your writing skills, but also how eloquently you were able to discuss why Amendment 4 is so bad for our community, for our faith,” she added.

The purpose of this essay contest was to bring awareness about Amendment 4, a proposed legislation in Florida that would enshrine unregulated abortion in our state constitution. The Amendment was voted on Nov. 5 and failed to pass.

“We have been very vocal as a diocese and as a school about voting no on Amendment 4,” said Ivette Alvarez, principal of St. Brendan High School, during the ceremony.

“We were learning about abortion and the right to life in theology class when they mentioned this competition. That was the right thing to do because we had been learning about it,” said Anabella after the awards ceremony.

Anabella also mentioned her aspiration to become a constitutional lawyer, although she has not yet decided where she will attend college.

Also present at the ceremony from the archdiocesan Office Communications were Juan Di Prado, senior director, and Michelle Jurado, director of media relations. Representing the archdiocesan Office of Schools were Gabriel Cambert, associate superintendent for government programs.

The essay contest was “primarily for Respect Life Month, but it was also the closing project for the Archdiocese of Miami's "Vote NO on Amendment 4 campaign,” Di Prado said. He added that the contest was coordinated by the Office of Communications in collaboration with the Office of Schools. “Under the direction of Archbishop Wenski, who was very adamant about having these projects and giving students something different to do for Respect Life Month.”

The winners were selected from hundreds of students from the eight high schools in the Archdiocese of Miami who participated in the contest. Students submitted their essays to their schools. Each school submitted its best essays to the Office of Catholic Schools and the Office of Communications, which formed the committee responsible for selecting the winners.

Below are brief biographies of the Amendment 4 Essay Contest winners and their essays.

 

First Place winner

Anabella Alvarez, 12th grade, St. Brendan High School

Say NO to a "Culture of Death"

Anabella Alvarez is a senior in the ALPHA Program at St. Brendan High School and plans to attend the University of Miami for undergraduate studies. She intends to study constitutional law and pursue law school in either the Northeast or the Washington, D.C. area.

Anabella attended St. Timothy Catholic School for elementary and middle school where she teaches CCD to Catholic children attending public or charter schools. When asked how her faith will influence the decisions she makes for her future, she explained: “In the Bible, it says, ‘As the Father has sent Me, I also send you’ — to go out and make a difference in the world, and I plan to do just that. The world’s leaders are extremely polarized, and I would like to change that. Bringing people together requires patience and perseverance, and I believe I have those virtues.”

Ranked among the top of her class, Anabella is a National Merit Commended Student and a Silver Knight Nominee. She is also in the Sabre Choir and a winner at the Florida Music Education Association (FMEA) All State Choir. Additionally, she is the president of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and Business Honor Society, Vice President of the National Honor Society (NHS) and the Key Club, and Secretary of Tri-M (Music).

Anabella is most interested in effecting positive change in the world. She would like to study policy and eventually serve as a member of the executive branch of government. Outside of her academic and extracurricular pursuits, she loves music and enjoys everything from Air Supply to Taylor Swift, Andrea Bocelli, Maluma and Marc Anthony.

A model student, Anabella Alvarez is an exceptional young woman who lives out her Catholic faith in both word and deed.

 

Second Place winner

David Sanchez, 12th grade, Cardinal Gibbons High School

Amendment 4

David Sanchez is a senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. He previously attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in Boca Raton and remains actively involved in the St. Joan of Arc Parish, where he received his sacraments of initiation and volunteers at the food pantry to support those in need.

In addition to being a member of several honor societies, David is the head of competition for Mu Alpha Theta, a national mathematics honors society. He also volunteers with Key Club and Circulo de la Hispanidad, a non-profit organization in New York dedicated to helping underprivileged and underserved Hispanic adults and children. He has also worked as a summer camp counselor at Camp Trillium in North Carolina. Born to Colombian-Peruvian parents, David aspires to study engineering at the University of Florida. He is recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction and has been honored by the National Hispanic Recognition Program and the National First-Generation Recognition Program.

 

Third place winner

Annette Marie Labrada, 12th grade, Immaculata-La Salle High School

Amendment Four: A Danger to the Sanctity of Family and Human Life 

Annette has been a student at Immaculata-La Salle High School for four years and is currently in the top 2% of her senior class. She is bright, energetic, compassionate, and genuinely well rounded. Her grades have been consistently excellent in all of her courses. Annette has a passion for helping others. She has dedicated much of her free time to charities that help children in need. Whether working as a counselor at a summer camp or traveling to Santo Domingo with a mission group, she is quick to recognize an individual’s need and just as quick to find a way to help.

In addition to helping different charities, Annette has been actively involved in a diverse assortment of extracurricular activities, including Student Government, Honor Societies, and sports. She has been an active member of the Cheerleading Team since her freshman year and has been an integral part of helping the team become State Champions three years in a row. Annette plans to study Biology in college and hopes to pursue a career in healthcare. She attended St. Theresa Catholic School in Coral Gables, and her home parish is Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables.

 

Third place winner

Caterina Arner, 12th grade, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy

Vote No on 4 

Caterina Arner, an active member of Saint Theresa the Little Flower Parish in Coral Gables, is a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. She is motivated by her Lourdes Academy Sisterhood and numerous extracurricular activities that inspire her to serve the school community through student council, peer ministry, the varsity rowing team, DECA academic team and executive board, and the treasurer of the inaugural Live Like Bella Childhood Cancer Awareness Club. She aspires to apply the skills she’s acquired to achieve a career in business and attend her dream school: Boston College.