From the June 15, 1994 edition of The New Castle Record
Kate Brammer from Craig County High School was the winner of the New Castle Telephone Company essay contest. Her essay went on to compete at the regional level which included winning student essays from five states. The national winner was selected from the seven regional award winners.
Each local winner received a $100 award, six regional winners each received a $1,500 scholarship, and the grand prize winner received a $5,000 scholarship.
The essay contest was first introduced in 1970 and was extended to students in high schools by TDS Telecom’s 15 companies. This year, student participants represented 95 telephone companies in 29 states.
“A lot has changed during the past 24 years and modifications to this year’s contest clearly reflect the changing needs of our students,” said Jerrald Harms, manager of New Castle Telephone Co.
“Teachers, administrators, students and parents offered a number of excellent suggestions about enhancing the contest. These suggestions were the basis for the evolution of this year’s program,” he said.
Some of the ideas incorporated in this year’s contest include three levels of competition; a new prize structure; availability to junior and senior high school students; and a classroom award for the teacher sponsoring the national award winer.
“Probably the biggest change is the structure and amount of the awards. With more and more students seeking additional training and education beyond high school, students, parents, and teachers are extremely concerned about the cost of continuing education,” said Harms.
Harms said the essay contest is the company’s way of supporting existing scholastic efforts and providing students with an opportunity to further excel with scholarships designated for continuing education.
“I’m very pleased we are ale to offer our students this opportunity and very proud of the students for taking advantage of it. I also applaud the support and guidance of parents, teachers and school administrators. The essay contest would not have been a success without their encouragement and interest in enhancing the contest for the benefit of our students,” said Harms.
-Prepared by Shelly Koon