City Essay Contest Winners Announced

The City of Surprise and the City of El Mirage partnered with Dysart Unified School District to invite students in grades 3-12 to participate in the annual My El Mirage and My Surprise Essay Contests in November of 2023.  For the City of Surprise, this year’s prompt focused on how citizens could work together to provide a “clean, safe, and friendly community.”  City of El Mirage students in grades 3-8 were asked to respond to the prompt, “I love El Mirage!  What is it about El Mirage, AZ that makes it a place that you love?” City of El Mirage high school students were asked how citizens of El Mirage work together to “embrace progress while respecting its grand heritage.”  Essays were limited to 500 words and were evaluated based on creativity, clarity, sincerity of thought, and, of course, proper grammar. 

Winners from the City of Surprise were selected in specific grade bands and were honored at the Surprise City Council Meeting on March 5, 2024.  The City of Surprise winners were Kaylee Garcia from Surprise Elementary School in the Grades 3-4 category, Connor Kemnitz from Asante Preparatory Academy in the Grades 5-8 category, and Morgan Goates from Shadow Ridge High School in the Grades 9-12 category.  

Winners from the City El Mirage were also selected in grade bands, and additionally recognized 2nd and 3rd place winners.  These students were recognized at the City of El Mirage City Council Meeting on April 2nd, 2024. 

For grades 3-4, Caleb Figueroa of Surprise Elementary School took 1st Place, Carlie Scholl of El Mirage Elementary School placed 2nd, and Noel Cervantes Landaverde of El Mirage Elementary placed 3rd.  

For grades 5-6, 1st place was awarded to Alexa Cervantes Reyna, Adam Campbell took 2nd Place, and Daisha Jones took 3rd Place.  All three students are from Dysart Middle School. 

For grades 9-12, 1st place was awarded to Oscar Delgado from Valley Vista High School,  2nd Place went to Caden Braun Schreuer, also from Valley Vista High School, and  3rd Place went to Landon Navarro-Heaps from Dysart High School.  

 Excerpts included below:

City of El Mirage 1st Place Winner - Alexa Cervantes Reyna, Grade 6  

"El Mirage cares about its community deeply; they show this by not only providing many events for one to celebrate but also by offering the public lots of space for them to appreciate."

City of Surprise 1st Place Winner - Morgan Goates, Grade 11 

 "To me and many others, Surprise isn’t just a place on the map, it's a home and community centered around growth and happiness for all generations of life, and I’m thankful that I get to call it my home."

In addition to being recognized at their respective city council meetings, all first place winners received $50 gift cards provided by the Dysart Educational Foundation. 

Danielle Edgerton coordinated the dual city essay contest with support from teachers, administrators, and city leadership.  “It has been such a rewarding experience to partner with both the City of Surprise and the City of El Mirage to honor our scholars and writers,” said Edgerton.  “The essays submitted by all of the students were sincere celebrations of their schools and communities.”