Four students from Gainesville were among the winners of this year's Cesar Chavez Ceremony in Atlanta.
Hosted by the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), the ceremony was held at the State Capitol recently.
First place essay winners were:
- Adult: Angela Saxton, Atlanta Essay online here.
- ESOL: Melisa Medrano - Chestatee High School, Gainesville Essay online here.
- High School: Stefany Pedraza Jaimes - Chestatee High School Essay online here.
Second place winners were:
Third place winners:
According to a press release from GALEO, the purpose of the ceremony is to honor civil rights legend Cesar Chavez, and increase awareness of the continual plight of farm workers and their contributions to America. Chavez founded what is today known as the United Farm Workers union.
- Adult- Alba Cobos (Statesboro)
- ESOL- Maria Martinez (Gainesville)
- H.S. - Elizabeth McGovern (Atlanta)
- Adult- Brayden Robinson (Bremen)
- ESOL- Merlin Chavez (Gainesville)
- H.S.- Jack Cenatempo (Atlanta)
This year's essay judges were:
- Rigoberto Rivera, High School Program Manager, The Latin American Association
- Frank Zamora, Social Studies Teacher & Department Co-Chair, Johnson High School, Gainesville
- Karla Vazquez, Cesar Chavez Committee Co-Chair
Prizes include the following:
- Two (2) mini-iPads: Donations by Taylor, Lee and Associates, Los Abogados Para Ti.
- One set of four (4) Atlanta Braves Tickets, Donated by Telemundo Atlanta
- One (1) $100 gift certificate for Best Buy donated by BB&T
- Inside CNN Studio Tour for four (4) people donated by CNN
- Two (2) Infield Box seats tickets to watch the 2016 Gwinnett Braves, courtesy of the Gwinnett Braves
- Two (2) admission tickets to the High Museum of Art, courtesy of the High Museum of Art.
- One (1) $25 American Express Gift Card, courtesy of GALEO.
