Los Gatos Eating Disorder Center Announces Essay Contest Winners

A record 143 students from 55 middle and high schools throughout Silicon Valley shared what beauty means to them and how the media affects their body image in an essay contest sponsored by Eating Disorder Resource Center of Los Gatos.

EDRC announced the student winners of the fifth annual, Every Body’s Beautiful contest.

 Judges scored on how well students answered questions, their voice and use of language, organization of paragraphs, and writing mechanics. 

First, second and third place winners for each category will receive cash prizes of $300; $200 and $100, respectively.  

Essay contest winners will receive their award Saturday, May 3, at the second annual Strong Girls, Strong Women Leadership Conference hosted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy. 

High School Winners:

First Place: Tina Nguyen, Grade 11, Milpitas High School, Milpitas

Second Place: Elaine Chien, Grade 10, Inspire Kids Tutoring Center, San Jose

Third Place: Kristen Pizzo, Grade 10, Santa Teresa High School, San Jose 

Middle School Winners:

First Place: Kyle Uy, Grade 8, Thomas Russell Middle School, Milpitas

Second Place: Andrew Tran, Grade 8, Sierramont Middle School, San Jose

Third Place: Maram Othman, Grade 7, California Virtual Academies, San Jose

Winning essays can be viewed at www.edrcsv.org.

Judges included: Amy Aken, Kaiser; Mary Gottschalk, Bay Area News Group; Melody Onwiler, Cisco; Louise Persson, AAUW; Tammy Janosik, RotaCare Bay Area, Inc; Maggie Cuneo, San Francisco 49ers; Tasha Fareed, Girl Scouts of Northern California and Bill Ford.