Essay Contest
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The Judges |
Since 1995, the Cherry Blossom Festival has encouraged Hawaii's high school students to participate in the annual Essay Contest. This contest helps promote an understanding and appreciation of how Japanese culture has influenced the lifestyle in Hawaii. All students in grades 9 to 12 attending a school in Hawaii are eligible for entry. This year, the Essay Contest received over 300 well composed and creative essays that answered the following question:
What one Japanese tradition in Hawaii best perpetuates Japanese culture? How has it influenced Hawai'i's past? How will it influence Hawaii's future?
Students addressed how various Japanese cultural influences essentially have inspired many of the things that we believe are truly "local." Essay topics ranged from reminiscence of the Japanese sugar cane planting issei who influenced Hawaii's pidgin English dialect; to traditional Japanese foods which have inspired "local" taste buds what was once a simple ball of rice or "musubi" has become Hawaii's one and only "spam musubi."
A distinguished panel of judges volunteered countless hours to review and evaluate the essays submitted on content (originality/creativity and relevance to topic), style (organization), and conventions (grammar and spelling) and selected the following winners of this year's Essay Contest:
First Place: Alissa Torigoe, Sacred Hearts Academy
First Runner Up: Christinn Pacheco, Sacred Hearts Academy
Honorable Mention: Kathryn Lee, Iolani School
The 57th Cherry Blossom Festival congratulates our top three essay finalists and extends our appreciation to every student who submitted their work. Without the participation of all the creative students and their teachers who gave of their guidance and time, and the judges who donated their expertise, the Essay Contest would not be as successful as it is today.