Frontier students place in national contest
(From left) Morgan Zeilenga, Addyson and Barker and Yvette Amrocio, all from the Frontier Middle School Builders Club, won awards in a national Builders Club contest. Yvette brought home first place.
MOSES LAKE — Yvette Amrocio drew a poster about kindness and helping others for a contest for the Builders Club, the middle school program sponsored by the Kiwanis. Addyson Barker wrote an essay, and Morgan Zeilenga wrote a speech. All three, students at Frontier Middle School, said they were surprised at what happened next.
The entries went to the regional contest sponsored by the Kiwanis. Yvette, Addyson and Morgan all won the regional contest. That meant their entries went on to the national contest. But the Frontier Builders Club never heard what happened at nationals.
That is, until the assembly on the last day of school. The Moses Lake chapter of Kiwanis had some news – Yvette’s poster took first place in the national contest, and Addyson and Morgan each won third place. “Our local Kiwanis has never seen these results before,” wrote Steven Himple, co-advisor for the Builders Club at Frontier.
All winners received a medallion and certificate. Yvette won $50 too, and her poster was displayed at the annual Kiwanis convention. The Moses Lake chapter wanted to make sure the girls’ achievements were recognized by the whole school.
So the chapter members were introducing new officers and other end-of-school business, when co-advisor Diane Reid made a special announcement. The girls were presented with their awards in front of the whole school.
Yvette, the daughter of Vanessa Lopez, said her poster was about the cycle of service. When people do kind things for one another, it makes the recipient of the kind deed want to pass it on, she said. Addyson, the daughter of Christopher and Jessica Barker, wrote an essay about caring, and Morgan, the daughter of Jack and Lisa Zeilenga, gave a speech on empathy.
Addyson said she was shocked to get third, and Yvette said she was surprised she did so well.
Frontier’s Builders Club has about 25 members, Himple said. The club emphasizes service, and its members completed service projects around school and the community. Builders Club members were among the volunteer bell ringers for Salvation Army at Christmas, and they visited Brookdale extended care facility to spend time with the residents, among other projects.