St. Alphonsus de Liguori Knights of Columbus Council 16112 in East Los Angeles had two students that excelled in the 2017-18 State Championship in the Catholic Essay Contest sponsored by the California Knights of Columbus.

Both girls, students at St. Alphonsus Catholic School, competed against other council entrants across the State of California in the 4th grade and 6th grade levels. 

Alyson Flores was awarded the 1st Place Overall State Champion in the 4th Grade division, while Helen Myers was awarded 2nd Place Overall in the 6th Grade division.

Second place winner Helen Myers with Father Rodolfo Prado. (Credit: Jose Romero)

All students in the contest were given a particular topic in their respective grade levels. Each essay was to be written between 250-500 words, and kept on point of the topic they were writing about.

“Both our young ladies wrote fine essays,” stated Grand Knight Rod Myers. “Each of them won on the council level, advanced through winning both the District and Chapter levels, making them eligible for the State Championship.”

“We could not be more proud of our students, their understanding and passionate writings on the topics presented to them showed us that a Catholic Education is very important to them.”

St Alphonsus Catholic School has added the Catholic Essay as part of its new Creative Writing curriculum. The school has been rewarded with five Top-5 winners in the past two years of competition, winning two 1st Place, a 2nd place, a 3rd place and a 4th place.

The winners were announced at the 2017-18 California State Convention held in Sacramento.