Awards Ceremony for Our First Ambassadors of Compassion Story-telling Contest (May 28)
This contest was aimed at local 7th and 8th graders from Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Alameda county middle schools, with all counties well represented. It was tough to pick a winner, and we decided to honor one first-place writer and three honorable mentions.
Because the winning story written by Vandana Ravi, "Snapshot," focused on the special bond between the narrator and a donkey, we decided to hold the award ceremony in Bol Park, home of Barron Park's donkeys, Perry and Jenny. The donkeys were welcomed by all when they made their entrance!
Runners up were: Amara Fernandes, for "Cat's Cradle"; Aaron Huang, for "Neverending"; and Macy Li, for "Searching for Rainbows."
Special guests, aside from Perry and Jenny, included: Jenny Kiratli, who manages the care of the two donkeys; Douglas Moran, who gave a brief history of "donkey lore"; Lydia Kou, Palo Alto City Council Member representing Barron Park; Jeness Hobart from Humane Education Network who gave advice and support; and Heidi Lubin, Art Education Manager at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, one of the judges of the contest.
Read the winning stories at https://www.paloaltohumane.org/ambassadors-of-compassion-s…/ and see a list of all the participants at https://www.paloaltohumane.org/story-contest-winners-by-ci…/.
