FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 1, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Far Rockaway student wins citywide Census essay contest
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A fourth-grade student in Far
Rockaway won fi rst place in the citywide
¡Tú Cuentas! 2020 Census Essay Writing
Contest.
Alyssa Carter from P.S. 197Q wrote
about the importance of being counted
in the 2020 census in her winning essay
titled “Th e Census,” which has earned her
the title of HITN NYC Student Census
Ambassador.
“It’s important to fi ll out the 2020 census
and to count everyone that lives in
your household,” Carter said. “It helps us
and our communities to get the help and
funding that we need — like improving
our hospitals, nursing homes and medical
agencies.”
As the fi rst-place winner, Carter
received a Certifi cate of Merit presented
by Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er
Amato along with a trophy, a $200 gift
card and a backpack fi lled with back-toschool
essentials.
Th e ¡Tú Cuentas! 2020 Census Essay
Writing Contest was launched by HITNTV
in collaboration with CUNY and
Schneps Media to promote citywide census
participation among hard-to-count
communities and raise awareness about
the need for children to be accurately
counted.
“When Alyssa learned about all the
money the census could bring into our
neighborhood, she was excited to
be an advocate for her school and
community. She wanted to write
her essay to encourage family
and others to be counted,
and to know why,” said Carter’s
mother, Kristal Morla.
Also recognized in this year’s
contest are second-place winner
Ava Ramos of P.S. 380 in
Brooklyn and thirdplace
winner Xandre
Maldonado of P.S.
20 in Manhattan,
who each received
a $25 gift card along with a backpack
fi lled with school supplies.
Over 300 fourth-grade students
from 15 schools representing
all fi ve boroughs submitted
entries to the competition.
Th e students were asked to
share their thoughts about why
participating in the 2020 census
matters for them, their
families and their
communities. Th ey
were also encouraged
to learn
more about the
census and motivate
family members
to participate.
“We’re incredibly proud of all the students
who participated and used their
voices and creativity to bring attention
to such a crucial topic for our community,”
said Naomi Rivera, executive director
of Government Aff airs at HITN. “A
huge thanks to our wonderful partners
at CUNY and Schneps Media, and to the
teachers and school administrators who
were committed to moving this initiative
forward and motivated their students
during these very challenging times.”
Rivera also extended her gratitude to
the local elected offi cials who collaborated
to help spread the critical message in support
of celebrating 38 years as America’s
Emmy Nominated Non-Commercial
Television Network for Hispanics and an
accurate 2020 census count.
“I am so proud that P.S. 197 in Far
Rockaway is represented in this contest,
and for developing the next wave
of civically engaged young people,” said
Amato said. “Our community is consistently
undercounted, and the students of
P.S. 197 are taking action against that and
spreading awareness about the census. It
is so crucial to inform and educate our
communities about what is at stake and
encourage participation to secure access
to essential resources and visibility across
political, social and economic arenas.”
Th e winning essay can be found on the
¡Tú Cuentas! 2020 Census Essay Writing
Contest website at www.censusessay.hitn.
Courtesy of HITN org.
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