2016 8th Grade Essay Contest Winners
The Asian American Parent Association (AAPA) in partnership with Cupertino Library and the Cupertino Library Foundation, hosted an essay contest for all 8th graders. Six winners were selected. The essay winners received a $100 cash scholarship award from AAPA, attended a City Hall Tour with the current Cupertino Mayor before a City Council Meeting, and was introduced as an essay winner during a City Council Meeting. This year’s prompt was “So you want to be Mayor?” Students wrote essays describing what they would strive to do if they were Mayor of Cupertino. All submissions were very impressive. Congratulations to all our winners!
Cupertino Middle School: Aryia Dattamajumdar
As Mayor, Aryia will focus on improving the fabric of Cupertino City where the young, the professionals, and the seniors all come together to make Cupertino a charming city. A place where traffic and parking is not a worry, parents know that their kids are safe and have the best opportunities, and our senior citizens feel valued. It’s our attitude that will determine our altitude.
Hyde Middle School: Darshini Vijayakumar
Darshini talked about building roads to lessen traffic, adding lights on the highways to aid safe driving at night, and building bonding opportunities in the Cupertino community, such as a Water Day or a Fair that will help people meet others and grow a sense of connection. This is where citizens can do things together that will continue to strengthen the bond among all the residents in Cupertino. She wants Cupertino to be the city where the whole world wants to live in and together, we can accomplish it.
Kennedy Middle School: Allen Yao
Allen believes that three important traits of a Mayor are 1) placing the people’s needs in front of one’s own needs; 2) showing a positive attitude and putting smiles on faces; 3) setting goals that are not impossibly difficult to achieve, yet are challenging to accomplish.
Kennedy Middle School: Yoanna Lee
Yoanna will seek to reduce the negative effects of the booming economic growth by 1) working with school district to better meet the needs of the growing number of students in the city; 2) improving the current road systems to improve traffic; 3) reaching a more moderate balance between the rich and the poor, so that a more diverse community of people can afford to live in Cupertino.
Lawson Middle School: Aaron Edwin Arul
As Mayor, Aaron will address three issues – housing, transportation and water use. 1) to encourage the building of more houses and to lower rent; 2) to support a separate transit route for VTA and bring in a small closed tram system that feeds the main streets of Cupertino; 3) to make a plan approved by the City Council to reduce water consumption by 40%. We can make Cupertino excel not only in the education field, but also all areas of life.
Miller Middle School: Sunny Guan
Sunny emphasizes in 1) supporting every child with the education they deserve; 2) being aware of environment, climate change and take actions; 3) proposing a ban on smoking everywhere in Cupertino. Sunny mentioned that a successful Mayor must listen to advice, not just from adults, but young teenagers as well. If people can have their voices heard, then they will be happier and enjoy being governed by the city government.
