Winners of the CHARACTER COUNTS Poster and Essay Contest

As part of Gaithersburg's CHARACTER COUNTS week, more than 1,000 elementary, middle and high school students participated in this year's poster and essay contests.

They were asked to create written and graphic works celebrating the six pillars of character:  Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

And the winners of the poster contest are:

Shaher Bano, 8th Grade - Gaithersburg Middle School
Vinny Denzel, 3rd Grade - DuFief Elementary School
Dulce Fernandez, 8th Grade - Gaithersburg Middle School
Prince Galley-Etse, 5th Grade - Gaithersburg Elementary School
Woayorm Kumazah, 8th Grade - Gaithersburg Middle School
Maria Kutishcheva, 4th Grade - Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
Anouk Pillai, 2nd Grade - Brown Station Elementary School
Miriam Shah, 6th Grade - Gaithersburg Middle School
Leena Shin, 4th Grade - Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
Jehlani Thomas, 5th Grade - Strawberry Knoll Elementary School

Winner of the special Ruth Minette Helz award, sponsored by Maryland 20878®, recognizing the one poster that best represents the pillar of caring, was awarded to:

Miriam Shah, 6th Grade - Gaithersburg Middle School

Elemenatary and middle school winners of the “Adult Heroes in Our Community” essay contest are: 

Kacie Ho, Thurgood Marshall Elementary School - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Lilia Karapetyan, Thurgood Marshall Elementary School - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Rachel Ryan, Thurgood Marshall Elementary School - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Steven Salmeron, Washington Grove Elementary School - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Karly Stepek, Washington Grove Elementary School - Winning Essay (pdf file)

High school winners, all from Northwest High School, of the "Foundations for Life" essay contest are:

Jenna Lichtenberg - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Carolina Martinez-Ramirez - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Natalia Sampaio Moura - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Avinash Satish - Winning Essay (pdf file)
Greg Von Wald - Winning Essay (pdf file)