Your assignment:

Diocese of Pittsburgh intermediate school students (grades 5 - 8) readily responded to this contest challenge. Judging the essays and posters were HCEF board and staff members. First and second place essays and first and second place posters were selected, and each winning student received a $250 Tuition Assistance Grant from the Diocese's Department of Education. These and a number of essays and posters receiving honorable mention are presented here. Please use your browser's back button to return to this page.

"Thoughtful, compassionate, insightful, imaginative, creative" – these are words that will come to mind as you read these essays and view the posters.

The essay winners were . . .

FIRST PRIZE

Homeless Kids Need Our Help
by Ciara Crossey, 7th grade, St. Philip School

"As I look across our classroom, I see all of the faces of my classmates hard at work . . . I don't know if any of them really know how kids do become homeless." [more]

SECOND PRIZE

Homeless Children
by Matt Pelczarski, 8th grade, Transfiguration School

"Children are mostly homeless because of their parents." [more]

The poster winners were . . .

FIRST PRIZE

How Children Become Homeless
by Mike D'Orazio, 8th grade, Madonna Catholic Regional School

SECOND PRIZE

How Can We Make People More Aware?
by Tilden Graham, 8th grade, Madonna Catholic Regional School

Honorable mention

Excerpts from selected essays

Homeless Children and Community Awareness by Ross Guidotti
8th grade, St. Joan of Arc School

"The image of the homeless is mostly that of men and sometimes women who have fallen on hard times. Very often, the forgotten homeless are the young children. . . ." [ more]

Pass It On by Bethany Lewis
8th grade, St. Joan of Arc School

"The girl had never really thought much about homelessness. . . ." [more]

Homeless by Nick Vacsulka
7th grade, St. Therese School

"It is really hard for most people to think of children as being homeless. " [more]

Homelessness by Olivia Saccameno
8th grade, St. Angela Merici School

"Imagine coming home one day expecting to be greeted by fresh food, a change of clothes, and other luxuries that you are accustomed to, but instead . . . ." [more]

Making People Aware About Being Homeless by Haley Szramowski
5th grade, Holy Spirit School

"The homeless are not homeless because they want to." [more]

What We Can Do by Dean Lutz
6th grade, St. Vitus School

"We can do so many things to let people know how kids become homeless . . . ." [more]

Homelessness by Joe McMahon
7th grade, St. Bede School

"So how do we increase awareness of the homeless in our community . . . ?" [more]

Making People Aware About Being Homeless by Ryan Milcarek
6th grade, Brookline Regional School

"More people than we think are in poverty or are homeless, or even both!" [more]

Homelessness and Children by Jake Ellis
8th grade, St. Bede School

"I believe that more than anything, these children [who are homeless] need your prayers." [more]

Homelessness by Rachel Ritzer
6th grade, Madonna Catholic Regional School

"It is a myth that all homeless people are lazy." [more]

Homelessness by Marlena Cook
6th grade, Brookline Regional Catholic School

"The issue of homelessness is a complicated one, filled with debate on which are the appropriate measures to take." [more]

How We Can Help by Lauren Ashley Csaszar
5th grade, St. Sylvester School

"We could have a symbol that people could recognize for the homeless campaign." [more]

How We Can Help by Tashaya Brown
8th grade, St. Agnes Oakland School

"Here are some ways to make more of the world's population aware of this tragedy [of homelessness]." [more]

The Awareness of Homeless People by Alexandra Lombardozzi
6th grade, Holy Spirit School

"Fundraisers are a way of making a big group of people aware of the homeless. " [more]

A display of selected posters

Think of the Less Fortunate by Andrea Bejjani
7th grade, St. Sebastian School

This Could Happen to You by Emily Davis
5th grade, St. Malachy School

Keep Kids off the Street by Nick DeRose
8th grade, Ss. Simon and Jude School

Kids Can Be Homeless Too by Tina DeVitto
5th grade, Holy Spirit School

Natural Causes Cause Homelessness by Hattie Gorr
7th grade, Word of God School

Thornburg Tribune by Simon Grefenstette
6th grade, St. Philip School

Help by Bailey Hallehan
7th grade, Holy Spirit School

This Could Happen to You by Erika Hilbert
6th grade, St. Elizabeth Elementary School

Homeless Awareness Starts with You by Jessica Hirsh
6th grade, St. Valentine School

Do You Know How Kids Under 12 . . . by Adrianne Knapp
8th grade, St. Philip School

4 Ways Families/Children Become Homeless by Connor Leach
6th grade, St. Joan of Arc School

Will You Be Home for Christmas? by Anne Lichius
5th grade, Divine Mercy Academy

RIght Before Thanksgiving by Lucy Orelli
8th grade, St. Bede School

Help Build Shelter by Michele Pacella
6th grade, Transfiguration School

Homeless by Emily Rago
7th grade, St. Philip School

Solve Homelessness by Lauren Stroh
7th grade, Madonna Catholic Regional School

Hunger – Parents – Abuse by Eva Sung
8th grade, St. Sebastian School

12/20/07