• Student Name: Brooke Rainwater
  • School Name: St. Joseph's Catholic School
  • Grade: 3rd
  • City, State: Paris, AR
  • Teacher's Name: Angela Hestilow
  • Essay:
    My healthy hero is my mom. She's 38 years old. She has four kids and manages to take care of all of us. She works at the Paris Public School in Paris, Arkansas as a Kindergarten teacher. She has 18 kids in her class. Still she can do it all. She also never gives up to keep me healthy. She takes my brothers, sister and I to church and teaches up to respect ourselves, our bodies, and our minds. She exercises and makes us do it too. She teaches her students to be drug free. She only takes medicine when she really needs it and she never drinks. She says, "Alcohol never makes anything better." She doesn't let me do drugs either. She teaches me what to do and what to say if someone offers me drugs. She gives me many choices and options like things I can do instead of drugs. She talks to me about smoking and how bad it is. She also tells me consequences of many things especially smoking. She tells me many other things me and my family can do instead of smoking. She takes me to piano and my brothers to their soccer games and basketball games. She plays games with me and we go for Girls Day Out. At dinner we eat and talk as a family. I am glad my mom does not take drugs. If she did she would make me and I would not be taken care of good. I would not be happy and I would not be active in the community. I would not respect myself or my mind and my body if I smoked. That is why my mom is my healthy hero. She teaches me that I am special and to be happy of who I am. She gives me choices of my future and guides me in the right direction in life. And one thing I know just like my mom I will never take drugs. That is also why I love her.

Guidelines

Open to students in grades 2-9, with judging falling into three categories:Grades 2 & 3, 4-6 and 7-9.

The essay must be written by the student and should focus on the healthy hero’s lifestyle choices and attitudes about being tobacco-free. The essay should be at least 300 words but no more than 750 words.

Entries must be submitted before 5 p.m. on Friday, October 30.

Winners will be announced by 5 p.m. on Monday, December 7.

Prizes

Grades 2-3:
  • First place: Nintendo Wii
  • Second place: portable dvd player
  • Third place: Nintendo DS
Grades 4-6:
  • First place: laptop computer
  • Second place: 160 GB iPod Classic
  • Third place: 4 GB iPod shuffle
Grades 7-9:
  • First place: laptop computer
  • Second place: 8 GB iPod touch
  • Third place: 8 GB iPod nano