Soroptimists Award Student Writers from Middle School and High School
Left to Right—Back: Wayne Bauer, High School Coordinator, Lynn Brooks, Judge, Kathleen Briggs, Soroptimist Writing Awards Chair and Judge, Rachel Cone, Middle School Coordinator, and Brooke Aguirre, Middle School Award Winner. Left to Right—Front—High School and Middle School Winners— By Mr. Bauer were the High School Story/Essay winners Erik Orozco for 1st Place, 2nd Place to Shalise Beltran, and 3rd Place to Vanessa Villa; the High School winners for Poetry were Stephanie Hernandez (not shown in photo) for 1st place, 2nd place went to Christina Gutierrez, and 3rd Place went to Larissa Downing. Itzelle Iniguez received Honorable Mention. Near Mrs. Cone were the winners for Middle School Poetry, Sarah Pace for 1st place, Laura Garnica for 2nd place, and Brooke Aguirre for 3rd place. Brooke Aguirre also received Honorable Mention for another poem. The Middle School Short Story/Essay winners Laura Garnica for 1st Place and Michael Topete for 2nd Place.
Left to Right—Back: Wayne Bauer, High School Coordinator, Lynn Brooks, Judge, Kathleen Briggs, Soroptimist Writing Awards Chair and Judge, Rachel Cone, Middle School Coordinator, and Brooke Aguirre, Middle School Award Winner. Left to Right—Front—High School and Middle School Winners— By Mr. Bauer were the High School Story/Essay winners Erik Orozco for 1st Place, 2nd Place to Shalise Beltran, and 3rd Place to Vanessa Villa; the High School winners for Poetry were Stephanie Hernandez (not shown in photo) for 1st place, 2nd place went to Christina Gutierrez, and 3rd Place went to Larissa Downing. Itzelle Iniguez received Honorable Mention. Near Mrs. Cone were the winners for Middle School Poetry, Sarah Pace for 1st place, Laura Garnica for 2nd place, and Brooke Aguirre for 3rd place. Brooke Aguirre also received Honorable Mention for another poem. The Middle School Short Story/Essay winners Laura Garnica for 1st Place and Michael Topete for 2nd Place.
By Kathleen Briggs — Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

The Soroptimists of Fillmore honored students from Fillmore Middle School and Fillmore High School at an awards luncheon buffet on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at Mr. Good-Lunch Cafe. The Verna Padelford Creative Writing Award for the Middle School and High School were awarded for poetry and short story/essay. All the student winners who placed received cash awards for their entries. For Middle School, the award which covered Poetry, went to Sarah Pace for 1st place, Laura Soroptimists Award Student Writers from Middle School and High School Garnica for 2nd place, and Brooke Aguirre for 3rd place. Brooke Aguirre also received Honorable Mention for another poem. The award which covered Short Story/Essay went to Laura Garnica for 1st Place and Michael Topete for 2nd Place (there was not a 3rd place winner). At the High School level, the winners for Poetry this year were Stephanie Hernandez for 1st place, 2nd place went to Christina Gutierrez, and 3rd Place went to Larissa Downing. Itzelle Iniguez received Honorable Mention. The Short Story/Essay winners were Erik Orozco for 1st Place, 2nd Place went to Shalise Beltran, and 3rd Place went to Vanessa Villa. The lst Place Winners in all the categories read their writings aloud to the approximately 55 club members and family and friends attending. The Soroptimists would like
to thank Rachel Cone, English teacher at Fillmore Middle School, and Wayne Bauer, English teacher at Fillmore High School, for their help in coordinating this effort. And a special thanks to the Soroptimist Writing Awards Chair, Kathleen Briggs, for her time and efforts for the judging and organizing the event, and her associate,
Soroptimist Lynne Brooks, who served as another judge. These awards are given annually by the Soroptimists in
memory of former member and school teacher, Verna Padelford. The purpose of the contest is to encourage students to write and receive recognition for their efforts. Soroptimists want to support the academic programs at the Middle School and High School, while giving individual students a feeling of personal success.