Photo by Sue Suchyta
Dearborn Emmanuel Lutheran School local winners in the Farm Bureau Insurance 45th annual “America and Me” essay contest for eighth-graders include students Dunya Abueita (left), 14, second place winner; first place winner Emma Noeller (third from left), 14, whose essay advances to the state competition; and third place winner Katie Fodor, 13, all of Dearborn, along with language arts teacher Catherine Baerwolf (second from left). The 2013-14 entrant challenge was to write about a personal hero from their state.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Personal Michigan heroes inspired three local students to write winning essays about a life-changing neighbor, a father whose designs save lives and a mother whose listening skills make a difference.
The local winners in the Farm Bureau Insurance 45th annual “America and Me” essay contest for eighth-graders from Emmanuel Lutheran School, 800 S. Military in Dearborn wrote about a personal hero from their state to answer the 2013-14 essay challenge.
The essay of the school’s first place winner, Emma Noeller, 14, advances to the state competition. Dunya Abueita, 14, is the school’s second place winner and Katie Fodor, 13, placed third.
As the school’s overall winner, Noeller’s name joins those from earlier years engraved on a plaque in the school, and her essay will compete with other Michigan entries for top 10 state honors in April.
State honorees receive a plaque, medallion and a $1,000 cash award. They also attend a banquet in their honor, meet Michigan government leaders and attend a Lansing Lugnuts Minor League baseball game as guests of honor.
Language arts teacher Catherine Baerwolf of Dearborn assigns the maximum 500-word essay to her eighth-grade students at the beginning of each school year for October submission.
She said she is proud of the insight her students display in their essays.
“I was especially proud of Emma’s because she’s taken a long journey,” Baerwolf said. “She wrote about somebody who was near and dear to her who has really helped turn her life around and she actually shared some personal information that some people might not have felt comfortable sharing.”
Noeller’s personal hero, Sue Owen, became her neighbor four years ago in Dearborn Heights when Owen and her husband moved next door to Noeller and her father.
At the time, Noeller said her father worked long hours and she was on her own a lot. Owen took her under her wing, became a mentor and took her to church.
When Noeller entered public middle school and started making poor choices, Noeller’s father agreed to let his daughter move in with the Owens. They also enrolled Noeller at Emmanuel Lutheran School, where she had been attending church services with the Owens.
“When I was living with my dad and going to public school, I was getting into a lot of trouble,” Noeller said. “(Sue Owen) was always there to tell me, ‘You can’t do that,’ and she paid for me to go here, and then I ended up moving in with her. She just helped me a lot and kept me on track.”
Noeller is now living with guardians who are members of the church, but she still sees Owen at church and visits her at her home.
She said Owen is a good listener, helps her develop her faith and encourages her to go to college.
“When we met, when she moved into the house next door, it was just kind of like we clicked,” Noeller said.
Abueita said her mom, whom she wrote about, is also a good listener, has encouraged her faith and is a good role model.
Her mother, who spent her childhood in the Middle East city of Bethlehem, came to the United States at 17.
She said her mother, who owns three stores, inspires her to do new things, supports her ideas and knows how to cheer her up.
“She has just always been there for me, and if I have a hard time she always knows what to say,” Abueita said. “If I’ve done something wrong she knows what to say or tells me why it’s wrong and I shouldn’t do it.”
Fodor said her father is also helpful and understanding, and he inspires her as well.
She said he works for Ford Motor Co., helping engineer safer ways for cars to drive on ice and he works on the “brains” of the car, programming them with new software that makes them safer to drive.
She said her father helps her with homework, teaches her how things work and inspires her own faith by example. Without his influence, she said she would be someone completely different.
Emmanuel Lutheran’s three local winners are among several thousand eighth-grade essay entrants from nearly 450 Michigan schools.
Other local schools sending winning essays to the state level competition include six from Dearborn, two each from Dearborn Heights, Taylor and Southgate, and one each from Allen Park and Lincoln Park.
America and Me local winner
ALLEN PARK
Inter-City Baptist
1st – Jessiann Wiedmann
2nd – Hope Tally
3rd – Marissa Manville
DEARBORN
Advanced Technology
Academy
1st – Janice Lee Stefanide
2nd – Nyah Hodges
3rd – Jessica Haro
Divine Child
1st – Kennedy Bingham
2nd – Alaina Celeski
3rd – Jessica Lesinski
Emmanuel Lutheran
1st — Emma Noeller
2nd — Dunya Abueita
3rd — Katie Fodor
Guardian Lutheran
1st – Rachel Urso
2nd – Brendan Downer
3rd – Emily Flohr
Lowrey
1st – Ayah Chami
2nd – Molouk Harp
3rd – Zeinab Khattab
Sacred Heart
1st – Cameron Godin
2nd – Jonathan DeBerardino
3rd – Katharine Walters
West Village Academy
1st – Carlos Jennings
3rd – Grenique Jones
DEARBORN HEIGHTS
St. Anselm
1st – Natalie Delaney
2nd – Monica Allen
3rd – Sidney Caudell
Star International Academy
1st – Amira Habhab
2nd- Hadeel Abdelkader
3rd – Furat Al-Waely
LINCOLN PARK
John Paul II Catholic
1st – Nina Biundo
2nd – Genevieve Kozak
3rd – Anna Izzo
SOUTHGATE
St. Pius X
1st – Madison Fedele
2nd – Noah Wigginton
3rd – Hannah Eory
Christ the King Lutheran
1st – Noah Davis
TAYLOR
Taylor Exemplar Academy
1st – Jarod Wladysiak
2nd – Taranbir Kaur
Trillium Academy
1st – Reyna Rodriques
2nd – Talia Beckman
3rd – Breanna Dietz