Kudos to nine Rancho Del Rey Middle students who recently participated in the “Big Read” competition through the National Endowment of the Arts. Students were required to read the novel “Fever 1793” and chose a project category (literary arts, media arts, performing arts, and visual arts) from which they created pieces that were inspired by the novel.

The event drew a large amount of interest from the community and more than 640 entries were made by 828 students (some in teams) from 16 different schools throughout San Diego County. Of all entries submitted, top ten students in each category will be invited to a celebration/recognition event mid-April 2019. From there, the top three winners from each category will be announced and those students will each win a cash prize.

Out of the nine students who have made it as finalists, four will have the opportunity to win cash prizes. Also, two students Sajkeena Clevland and Jazzlyn Williams have been asked to perform live at the event!

Student Finalists:

Gianella Isabelle Abella – Visual Arts
Alissa Aleksyeyev- (2nd place – Media Arts)
Jacqueline Ceballos- Visual Arts
Sajkeena Cleveland- (3rd place – Performing Arts)
Aidan Ibarra- Visual Arts
Emran Mohamed- Literary Arts
Deisy Ortega- Visual Arts
Isaac Salandanan- Visual Arts
Jazzlyn Williams- (2nd place – Performing Arts) – (featured on KUSI)

In addition, several students have been selected to be display their work in the following libraries around SD county.

Chula Vista South Library (Now-May 4)
Mission Valley Library (Now-May 4)
El Cajon Library (Now-May 4)

Congratulations to all finalists!