Many thanks to all the kids who submitted an entry to our essay contest. We are collecting and organizing our entries to send off to our judges. 

Keep checking here for updates on when the results will be announced.  

UPDATE I - March 13th, 2008: The entries that have made the first cut have been sent to our panel of judges for the final round of judging.

UPDATE II - April 3rd, 2008: Essay Contest results are out! Here are the names of the winners. Winning entries will be published one at a time on the site starting on Sunday. Winners will be sent their prizes in the mail.Prizes sponsored by Desi Knowledge, a great place to get books, CDs and DVDs pertaining to Indian culture. Products ship from within the Bay Area, California.

Topic: If I were President ( Grades 5th - 8th)

Joint 1st place: Nicole Dalal - Challenger School, 8th Grade

Joint 1st place: Shreya Malik - Challenger School, 7th Grade

3rd place: Sanjana Prasad - Challenger School, 7th Grade

Topic: Is America ready for a minority President? ( Grades 9th - 12th)

1st place: Colette Jaycox - Mission San Jose High School, 10th Grade

2nd place: Joy He - Parkway Central High School, 10th Grade 

The Judges: 

Scott Herhold: Scott Herhold is a distinguished columnist with the San Jose Mercury News. His columns feature various aspects of life in the Bay Area

Shana Dhillon: Shana, our youth representative, is a professional debater and speech scholarship student of St Mary's, a liberal art college in Moraga, CA and plans to go to law school. She has been a member of the Macken Speech and Debate Team since 2006 and has traveled all over the country competing in Parliamentary Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Prose Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, and Dramatic Interpretation. She has won multiple awards in speaking and interpretation.

Vidya Pradhan: Founder and editor of Water, No Ice, Vidya also writes regularly for the What's Happening paper in Fremont and the Hindu in Chennai.