Marilyn Moore

Senator Moore Announces Winner of 2017 5th-Grade Essay Contest

(L-R) Fifth-grade teacher Mrs. Iannantuoni, mom Rag Gosukonda, student Harini Gosukonda, father Manu Gosukonda, and Senator Marilyn Moore at Monroe Elementary School. (May 12, 2017)



MONROE, CT—Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) today announced Harini Gosukonda is the winner of Senator Moore’s 2017 5th Grade Essay Contest. The subject for this year’s contest was “What would I do to Make My Town a Better Place . . . ” Harini’s essay was chosen out of the entire 5th-grade class at Monroe Elementary School.

“The content of Harini’s essay shows she has the makings of a true humanitarian. Harini wrote of two great ideas to make Monroe better, and both involved helping and sharing,” Senator Moore said. “As a legislator, I want to hear what our young people have to say, I want to involve them, and I want to engage them to be active in our communities. The essay contest is a wonderful way of doing this.”

Harini is a student in Mrs. Iannantuoni’s fifth-grade class at Monroe Elementary School, with a passion for reading and helping others. In her winning essay, Harini wrote about collecting toys for local children’s hospitals and distributing mini-libraries throughout the town.

“I think that encouraging kids to start reading books is important, no matter what age,” Harini wrote in her letter. “To make a ‘mini-library’ you really just need a large box, some books, and an imagination.”

Sen. Moore paid a visit to Monroe Elementary Friday morning, where she met Harini, her parents, and the entire 5th-grade student body inside the school cafeteria. She presented Harini with an official congratulatory citation from the Connecticut General Assembly. Sen. Moore also surprised Harini with her first mini-library and a set of books.

“I hope this is the first Mini Library of many you will see in Monroe,” Sen. Moore said.

“You turned my writing into a reality,” Harini told Sen. Moore.

During her visit to the school, Sen. Moore also encouraged students to read, to come up with new ideas to help their community, and to share those ideas with the world.

“Reading is so important. It will take you places that you’ve never been, it’ll open your mind up to new thinking, and it’ll build your vocabulary,” Sen. Moore said. “And even if you have a small idea, you need to tell someone about it, and work on it, because from that, something can grow.”

Winning Essays at Monroe Elementary:

1st Place: Harini Gosukonda
2nd Place Hannah Fagan
3rd Place Angela King
4th Place Natalie Lieto
5th Place Mia Morelli
6th Place Caitlin Luf
7th Place Olivia Garrity

Read Harini’s 1st Place Essay.