Malden Reads/FOOGI Column Contest WInners

Last month, Malden Reads and the Friends of Oak Grove, Inc. asked Malden students to write a column about someone they know Students could pick a parent, friend, teacher or anyone else who inspires them.

The project was a reflection of the official Malden Reds: One City, One Book selection, “The Soloist,” written by news columnist Steve Lopez. The book expended upon a series of columns Lopez wrote about Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless and mentally ill musician living on the streets on Los Angeles.

The student columns submitted were all well written, which made choosing the winners especially difficult. What’s more, English-language learners wrote several of the winning columns, making this a remarkable achievement by Malden students.

The winners are:

• Grade 4: Birukti Tsige.
• Grades 5-6: Susan Cao. Honorable mention: Didier Registre.
• Grades 7-8: Betty Tang. Honorable mention: Yajing.

The three winning essays and two honorable mentions have been published on the site under the “Malden Reads/FOOGI Column Contest” column header. You can read all of the winning columns in one place .