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UTT Beutel Grade 5 student, Michelle Stoopler and her teacher Ms. Nona Phillips
UTT Beutel student’s essay (see below) clinches major runner-up prize in nation-wide contest
Michelle Stoopler’s essay on ‘What Home Means to Me’ was the only Quebec essay selected out of 2000 cross-Canada submissions
Montreal, February 16, 2009— UTT Beutel Grade 5 student, Michelle Stoopler tried to think of what life must be like as a homeless person. So that she could pen a true heartfelt essay on “What home means to me.” The reflection paid off and the resulting work been selected as one of 5 runner- up spots in the second annual “Meaning of Home” national writing contest sponsored by Genworth Financial Canada in support of Habitat for Humanity Canada.
“My teacher, Mrs. (Nona) Philips had us all think about what our homes mean to us. In talking about our feelings, I realized how much the warmth of my home and all the wonderful memories made there, mean to me,” explains 10 year old Michelle.
“I was very proud of how enthusiastically my students delved into this project,” says UTT Grade 5 teacher, Nona Philips. My main objective was to have my class realize that a home about family and love and warmth from caring and not about things and possessions. We talked about how people with little materialistic possessions can have a home that is warmer than those who seem to have everything if it is filled with love and good intentions…This project gave me the chance to help my students discover the essence of what home is all about, and for that I am grateful.”
These exact sentiments ring clearly in Michelle’s essay. This excerpt- “Every time I
walk into my home I think about how lucky I am that I have a warm and safe shelter. I
also think of the many people who don’t have homes to live in. I feel so bad when I see people lying on the street without having a home like I do. It makes me really sad and I wish I could change that” - is an example of the depth of her concern for others.
Now she is able to do something to help. Genworth Financial is donating $5,000 to a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the area of choice of each runner-up, to support the building of a new home. In addition to this prize, each runner- up will also receive a $100 gift certificate from Chapters-Indigo.
“It is really nice that I won the gift certificate, and I will enjoy the books that I get, but I
am most excited that my essay will be able to help someone have a home of their own!” exclaims Michelle.
This perceptive young lady who is so sensitive to the plight of others going through
difficult circumstances, has a heart as big as a house. Three years ago, she grew her hair to donate it to ‘Locks of Love’ as a result of seeing a dear friend struggle with leukemia. She is growing it again to try to help someone else in need. And now, thanks to “Meaning of Home” national writing contest, she is continuing to give from her heart.
The first prize winner, from Mississauga, won a new computer and a $60,000 prize from Genworth Financial towards building a Habitat for Humanity Home. Michelle’s essay is posted on the UTT website at www.utt.qc.ca. All the winning entries are posted on www.meaningofhome.ca.
UTT is a trilingual, independent, co-educational, private Jewish day school whose mission is to embrace diversity and unity, to inspire excellence, and to nurture Jewish identity in a school that feels like home. UTT students learn to be knowledgeable and committed leaders in society with a rich understanding of their Jewish heritage, values, traditions and practices.
Michelle Stoopler’s award’s winning essay
Habitat Affiliate Recipient: TBD
City: St. Laurent
Province: Quebec
School: United Talmud Torahs of Montreal – Beutel Campus
Grade: 5
Submission: What Home Means to Me
What is a house? A house is bricks and wood and furniture. These are all things that can be bought. Some people think that a home is just another word for house, but That is not what a homes means to me.
For me, a home has people in it who love and care about you, it is a place where you feel warmth and peace on even the coldest and stormiest of days. A home is a place where memories are made and shared amongst all those who live there and those who enter within. It’s where you laugh, cry, and where you spend time with the people you love.
Every time I walk into my home I think about how lucky I am that I have a warm and safe shelter. I also think of the many people who don’t have homes to live in. I feel so bad when I see people lying on the street without having a home like I do. It makes me really sad and I wish I could change that.
I can’t even begin to imagine how the homeless feel for not having a solid place to live. I would be very sad if I didn’t have a home to live in and to make memories in. When I see homeless people I think about how hard life must be for them. I also think about what it would be like if I didn’t have a home. It bet it would make them very happy if people would donate both time and money to make homes for them.
I hope that I win this contest because it’s a chance for me to make a difference and for me to help build a home for someone in need of not only a place to live but also a place to create long and lasting memories of their own. It will make someone very happy which, in turn, will mean the world to me.
I’m hoping this contest will help society by offering homeless members of our community a house, and then for them to be able to turn that house into their own home. Before I wrote this essay, I never really thought about how lucky I am to have a roof over my head when I sleep, and to have a dry place to go when it rains. Now I realize that I am so lucky to have a home and that I should not take that privilege for granted.
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