The winners of the 2022 Coronado Interact Club essay contest were announced at Coronado High School. Twenty-four students submitted their creative writings on the topic, “what does ‘Service Above Self’” mean to me. Many of the essays included very personal and heartwarming examples of “Service Above Self” and of their learning experiences at a young age on the importance of serving others who have greater needs than they have. Tom Mayer, the Rotary member who serves as the liaison with the Coronado Interact Club, officiated over the award ceremony. First place went to Kiara Bonner who received a $200 Visa gift card from the Rotary Club of Scottsdale. Sara Aguilar received a $150 gift card for her second-place finish, and a gift card valued at $100 went to Mirna Macedo Gomez for her third-place entry. Receiving special recognition for his Honorable Mention essay was Malcolm James who received a $25 gift card. All the entries were outstanding. As a result, names of five students who submitted entries were randomly drawn and given a fresh new $10 bill. In selecting the winners, the essays went through a double screening process. First, members of the Rotary Club of Scottsdale identified the top six essays. Then a second team of judges chose the final winners. Scottsdale community leader and professional writer Joan Fudela; Jeannette Griswold, the first woman president of the Rotary Club of Scottsdale; and Rotarian Tom Mayer served as the final judges. Joan Fudela’s comment after reading the essays was, “thank you for allowing me to be inspired by the next generation of community leaders and those who are already putting ‘Service Above Self!’ Our community and nation will be in good hands.” The Coronado teachers supporting this essay contest and ensuring its success were Dr. JoAnn Markette, English teacher; Ian Stephan, Interact Club teacher advisor; and Serenity Ruiz, Interact Club teacher co-advisor. The Rotary Club of Scottsdale is one of 46,000 clubs in the world having a total of 1.4 million individual members. Each of those members are committed to providing “Service Above Self.” It is hoped that some of the essay writers will someday become Rotarians and all will be inspired to give service to their community during their lifetime. Interact is a junior Rotary club for high school students. There are Interact clubs at each of the Scottsdale Unified School District high schools. | 