Board of Health announces winners of essay contest
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 1, 2015 1:46 PM
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Pictured are the top three winners, from left, Lauren Edwards, first place for her essay on suicide; Amelia Marriner, second place for her essay on domestic violence; and Matthew Teachey, whose essay on healthy eating earned him third place.
More than three dozen students around Wayne County responded to this year's Teen Public Health Perspective Essay Contest, sponsored by the Wayne County Health Department.
The Board of Health revamped the contest last year, with the former Abstinence Essay Contest opened up to topics of the students choosing and changing up the format for presentation. Instead of simply reading their essays at a board meeting, winners were asked to give a PowerPoint.
This is the 14th year for the contest, which began with mall gift cards as prizes and has grown to award scholarship money for the top three prizes.
The board recognized the latest winners Tuesday night at the Wayne County Public Library.
Ta-Kisha Darden, health education specialist at the Health Department, said 42 essays were submitted this year from high school students representing public, private and home-school settings.
First place winner was Lauren Edwards, a rising senior at Wayne Christian School, whose topic was "Suicide: A Permanent Solution for a Temporary Problem."
The 16-year-old received a $1,000 scholarship and $75 gift certificate.
Suicide, she said, is the second leading cause of death for 15 to 25-year-olds and in most cases can be prevented.
"We can all make a difference is we learn the warning signs of suicide and aren't afraid to talk to someone about it," she said during her presentation.
While her interest in the contest started out as an assignment by her English teacher, the subject was a personal one. A classmate was really close to one of the two Rosewood teens who had committed suicide the previous school year.
As challenging as the topic was, she said she appreciated the opportunity to share her findings.
"I'm really glad I participated in (the essay contest)," she said. "I learned a lot from it."
Second-place winner was Amelia Marriner, a rising junior at Wayne School of Engineering. She received a $500 scholarship and $50 gift card for her essay on domestic violence, "Stop Being the Victim."
In addition to discussing signs of domestic violence and possible solutions to get out of such a situation, she offered up some suggestions for dealing with it in Wayne County.
"One of the things we need is a men's shelter. We don't have one in Wayne County," she said after telling the audience about an area shelter for women and young children. "Men are affected just as much as women are. I think women are one in three, men are one in five.
"Add it into our budget somewhere, or have a fundraiser. It's really needed in Wayne County because we do not have one." She also said educating young people on the subject could be beneficial. High schools already have assemblies on drinking and driving and abstinence, she said.
"We need one on this subject, because it affects one in three teens," she said. "One in three teens either are affected or know someone who is."
Matthew Teachey, a recent graduate of Charles B. Aycock High, was third place winner for his essay, "Are You Really Eating Healthy?" He received a $300 scholarship and $50 gift card.
Honorable mentions were also given to Trayana Jones, a recent graduate of Eastern Wayne High School; Olivia Durfey, a rising senior at Eastern Wayne; and Auston Gray, a rising senior at Spring Creek High.
Health Director Davin Madden and the board congratulated the winners and applauded their efforts tackling some challenging topics.
"I was very pleased when we had over 40 submissions," Board Chairman Bob Cagle said. "It restores your faith in mankind to see that we have young people out there that are giving thought to such important items as we have heard tonight on eating well, eating better, domestic violence and suicide. They're important topics and things we as a community need to work on."
Board member Ray Mayo, who is also a county commissioner, said he had a "renewed confidence" in young people if these were representative of the county and state's future leaders.
Long-time board member Tommy Gibson said he was also impressed with the presentations.
"I liked it better than (the) abstinence essays. By opening it up, we had three really good papers tonight," he said. "I thank you on behalf of this board and Wayne County. I'm really proud of you. Keep it up."
Winning essays will soon be posted on the department's website, www.wayneteens.com.