The Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health has announced the winners of its annual essay competition for U.P. high school seniors to celebrate National Rural Health Day. This year's contest was sponsored by the Literacy Legacy Fund of Michigan and the Michigan Center for Rural Health. The top three prizes in each U.P. region—east, central and west—were $500, $250 and $100.
Students were asked to write an essay of 500 or fewer words that addressed the following topic: "Identify two challenges people encounter regarding preventative healthcare in their rural area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then provide two solutions for overcoming these challenges."
The final results are below:
Eastern Region Winners
1st Place: Delaney Hill, Pickford
2nd Place: Ashley Dzelak, Newberry
3rd Place: Ellie Emrich Rudyard
Central Region Winners
1st Place: Katelyn Given, Ishpeming
2nd Place: Emily Janowski, Marquette
3rd Place: Abigail Pizziola, Marquette
Western Region Winners
1st Place: Ayden Rau, Bessemer
2nd Place: Josie Hammerstrom, Atlantic Mine
3rd Place: Dalten Wagner, Stephenson
The essay review and scoring process is overseen by NMU English professors who work with NMU students enrolled in upper-level courses that focus on the social and rhetorical processes of composition, as well as writing theories, principles and contexts, with a specific emphasis on assessing and responding to written work. All winning essays may be viewed on the NMU Center for Rural Health website at https://nmu.edu/ruralhealth/essay-contest .