Kate Goodward, a Grade 9 student at La Glace School, has been nationally recognized for her Remembrance Day essay titled The Poppy. The essay was written for The Royal Canadian Legion and The Legion National Foundation’s annual literary contest, held to promote remembrance and support youth education for Canadian students in Grades 1 through 12.

Goodward’s essay won her first place at the Sexsmith Branch #60 before moving onto the Legion’s Provincial level and eventually to the Legion National Foundation in Ottawa, where it once again, placed first. She says she is very excited about her accomplishment, but was caught a little off guard at the announcement. “I didn’t expect to win at the national level, because I didn’t think the Intermediate level made it that far.” Liz Good-Gerow of Branch #60 says Goodward, who has been participating in the annual contest since she was in Grade 2, is the first local student to ever earn the national title.

Heidi Hargreaves, Principal of La Glace School says that she and the rest of the school community are very proud of Kate. “[She] took a chance with her writing, not for a good grade, but because she was passionate about the topic. Now, here she is receiving a National Level Award!” Mrs. Hargreaves adds that Kate is a role model for other students, because she takes healthy risks in her writing and academics, and she is determined in excelling and growing, while simultaneously challenging herself.

The annual contest, which also offers a poster component, is divided into four categories:

·Senior: Grades 10, 11, 12

·Intermediate: Grades 7, 8, 9

·Junior: Grades 4, 5, 6

·Primary: Grades 1, 2, 3 (poster contest only)

Each of the 1,350 Legion Branches across Canada nominates one entry per category to the Provincial level, where they are judged against others throughout their respective jurisdictions. From there, only the top entries of each category are sent to the Legion National Foundation for the final round of judging.

You can find Goodward’s winning essay on page 7 of The Legion National Foundation’s Winners 2022 Poster and Literary Contests booklet.

Information provided by PWPSD