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Mayor proclaims January "School Board Recognition Month"; Oakwood students honored in Dottie Yek essay contest
Summary
Oakwood leaders recognized school board members during Board Appreciation Month; the district presented a student writing program report and honored Dottie Yek essay contest winners, including first-place winner Lilith Delapaz.
Mayor William D. Duncan presented a proclamation at the Jan. 13 Oakwood Board of Education meeting declaring January 2025 as School Board Recognition Month in Oakwood and praising board members for their service.
Dr. Gupta noted January is board appreciation month and introduced a short video from elementary students thanking board members. The meeting then turned to a curriculum report: Emily Sullivan, an English teacher, described the Dottie Yek Good Life essay contest and the district's long participation. Sullivan said the contest prompt asked students to "describe a time in your life when helping others was fun, felt good, and made you happy." She said Oakwood has had 19 years of participation and highlighted that about 863 essays were submitted in the most recent cycle and that Oakwood produced multiple top finishers.
Student Lilith Delapaz read her first-place essay about her family's work assisting Afghani refugee families; Sullivan noted Delapaz was one of four students from Oakwood to earn top placements historically and that Delapaz won $3,000 for first place. The board and superintendent recognized additional top finishers and honorable mentions; Sullivan said 11 of the top 25 statewide finalists were Oakwood students and described the multi-judge reading process used to rank entries.
The superintendent also announced the district reopened the Mack Hummin track for community use after LED lighting upgrades on the home side; work remains on the visitor side. She reminded the public the district's state of the schools address will be at the March 10 board meeting.
