Lakeview Elementary’s fourth-grade class trickled into the auditorium for a surprise assembly on Tuesday, February 6th. Alicja Caffery, a fourth-grade student in the front row, was shocked to hear Principal Liz Blessing ask her to come up to the podium.
“It’s not every day that we meet in the auditorium and you guys don’t know why we’re here,” Blessing said. “But I promise that it’s for a very exciting reason. Two weeks ago, we received letters addressed to us, and one of our students was one of only five, nationwide, to be recognized by Storyworks Magazine as a part of their essay competition…”
In naming Caffery one of the winners of the Frozen Earth Essay contest, Storyworks Magazine said that the fourth grader showed a strong understanding of the text, critical thinking skills, point of view, and reading and writing skills in her well-organized and articulated essay.
The room erupted into applause from her teachers, peers, and her parents, who had taken time out of their busy schedules to participate in the celebration.
“I thought that it was another safety assembly,” Caffery said after the assembly. “I read the Storyworks Magazine about the Ice Age, then I went to the library to try and find more information about the Ice Age. I took the magazine home and researched the Ice Age online to write the essay.”
Encouraged by her classmates, parents, and teachers, Caffery took to the podium and read her award-winning essay to the room.
“The Earth has gone through five different ice ages,” Caffery said. "Imagine seeing beavers the size of bears, or even giant hairy elephants called Mammoths! This was all normal for the humans living in the ice age world..."