Bank of America
Thorner School sixth-grader Stephen Bush, Reagan School fifth-grader Paityn Boyt and Discovery Elementary fourth-grader Jessica Stump emerged as winners at the annual Bank of America Essay and Speech Contest held (tonight) May 5 at University Square in Bakersfield. The three were the best at their grade levels from a finals field featuring 31 of the area's top essayist-speakers. Each had three-to-five minutes to deliver their speech from an essay they had previously written on "Traditional Libraries: Are They Still of Value in this Technological Age?"
Essay competition began at the school level. Approximately 400 Kern County elementary school students wrote classroom essays on the topic. Each school judged the writing and nominated one fourth, fifth and sixth grade student essay writer to represent the school. Essays were then judged by a panel of teachers and the thirty-one finalists were identified for the speech contest. Bank of America's Central California Market and KCSOS sponsor the competition, which awards savings bonds in the amounts of $100 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third at each grade level.
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Bush said he favored the traditional library for one very important reason. "The number one factor that can never be replicated through technology is the librarian," Bush said. "Google can give you 50,000 responses to your inquiry. Your librarian can find the one you need."
Boyt said her brother Dalton gave her a good quote about traditional libraries."He said, 'yes, I love the library, I can always find the latest books, and they are free,'" Boyt said. Then, she added, "BBC News reported that schools that spent more on their library stocks than new technology were twice as likely to get better test results."
Fourth-grader Stump referred to herself as "a 10 year old bookworm" who regularly hangs out at a library. "It provides information but also a strong sense of belonging that I yearn
Essay competition began at the school level. Approximately 400 Kern County elementary school students wrote classroom essays on the topic. Each school judged the writing and nominated one fourth, fifth and sixth grade student essay writer to represent the school. Essays were then judged by a panel of teachers and the thirty-one finalists were identified for the speech contest. Bank of America's Central California Market and KCSOS sponsor the competition, which awards savings bonds in the amounts of $100 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third at each grade level.
Bush said he favored the traditional library for one very important reason. "The number one factor that can never be replicated through technology is the librarian," Bush said. "Google can give you 50,000 responses to your inquiry. Your librarian can find the one you need."
Boyt said her brother Dalton gave her a good quote about traditional libraries."He said, 'yes, I love the library, I can always find the latest books, and they are free,'" Boyt said. Then, she added, "BBC News reported that schools that spent more on their library stocks than new technology were twice as likely to get better test results."
Fourth-grader Stump referred to herself as "a 10 year old bookworm" who regularly hangs out at a library. "It provides information but also a strong sense of belonging that I yearn