Posted April 30, 2012

The five finalists and their teachers from the Harry Truman writing contest.

Last week, a number of Shaker High School students received the opportunity to participate in a writing contest that focused on Harry Truman.

The thirty students who participated were asked to write an essay that focused on Truman as a Freemason and the fraternal tenets of friendship, morality, charity, community service, and brotherly love. The goal was to discuss how these tenets impacted his service to the United States.

As part of the contest, students submitted their essays to members of the Evening Star Lodge in Latham. Mr. Paul Kleinberger of the Lodge and the rest of the Brothers narrowed the field down to five students and invited those finalists to the Lodge read their essays.

After listening to the five essays, the Brothers voted on the best essays. The results are as follows:

Maddie McElrath (1st place)

Elizabeth Lee (2nd place)

Amanda Wells (3rd place).

Michael Sheridan (merit award)

Matthew Spadoni (merit award)

A thank you also goes out to the students' teachers, Kim Rixman and Mike Basile.