Soroptomist presented the Verna Padelford Creative Writing Awards, Wednesday, April 21st. Fillmore Middle School winners—Front Row (l-r)—Elizabeth Manzano, First Place—Poetry; Rachel Pace, Third Place—Poetry; Yaneli Enriquez, Second Place—Poetry; Anthony Larin, Second Place—Short Story. Not pictured were Felicity Zavala, First Place Winner—Short Story. Back Row (l-r)—Rachel Cone, Teacher/Coordinator; Susan Fitzgerald, Teacher; and Kathleen Briggs, Soroptimist Writing Awards Chair and judge. (K. Pace photo)

Fillmore High School Creative Writing Awards winners pictured: Front Row (l-r)—Ryan Martel, First Place—Short Story; Alexis Briano, Special Honorable Mention-School Spirit—Poetry; Vanessa Villa, Second Place—Short Story; Laura Garnica, First Place—Poetry. Back Row (l-r)—Erik Orozco, Third Place—Short Story; Wayne Bauer, Teacher/Coordinator; Roberto Munoz, Third Place—Poetry; Not pictured were Tyler Gray, Honorable Mention—Short Story; Daniel Meza, Second Place—Poetry; Gabriela Diaz, Imelda Lopez and Lynn Ferguson, Honorable Mention winners--Poetry. (K. Pace photo)

The Soroptimists of Fillmore honored students from Fillmore Middle School and Fillmore High School at an awards dinner buffet on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at Fillmore’s El Pescador Restaurant.

The Verna Padelford Creative Writing Awards 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. Participation was great this year—16 students from the Middle School and 36 students from the High School.

For Middle School, the award which covered Poetry, went to Elizabeth Manzano for 1st place, Yaneli Enriquez for 2nd place, and Rachel Pace for 3rd place. The award which covered Short Story/Essay went to Felicity Zavala for 1st Place and Anthony Larin for 2nd Place; (There was not an entry to award a 3rd place winner).

At the High School level, the winners for Poetry this year were Laura Garnica for 1st place, 2nd place went to Daniel Meza, and 3rd Place went to Roberto Munoz. With the good quality of high school poetry entries, there were several Honorable Mentions, especially one for School Spirit for Class of 2010, won by Alexis Briano; other Honorable Mention recipients were Gabriela Diaz, Imelda Lopez and Lynn Ferguson. The Short Story/Essay winners were Ryan Martel for 1st Place, 2nd Place went to Vanessa Villa, and 3rd Place went to Erik Orozco. Tyler Gray received Honorable Mention.

The Soroptimists would like to thank Rachel Cone, English Teacher Coordinator and Susan Fitzgerald, Teacher, at Fillmore Middle School; and Wayne Bauer, English Teacher Coordinator 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 Soroptimist Dr. Ellie Wattles, who assisted in the judging for the Middle School.

These awards are given annually by the Soroptimists in honor and 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.