MLK-8 Center student wins essay contest about heritage

Education By Alexandra Herrera, Reporter Friday, March 15, 2024

    Bennie Sanders, a third grader at Miami Lakes K-8 Center, is this year’s elementary school essay winner in a contest held by the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation, Inc. 

     The essay topic for students from across Miami-Dade County was “Why I am proud of my heritage as I plan for my own future.” 

     This is the 29th year the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation has held the contest. 

     The company is based in Little Haiti, and Lemon City is the historic name for the neighborhood. 

     The contest website describes how it encourages students to “use their composition and creative writing skills to express respect, reverence and pride in themselves and their ancestry and its impact upon their future.” 

     Bennie’s schoolmate Jacob Battle received an honorable mention certificate for his writing. 

     Bennie’s prizes were $50 and a certificate. He received them Feb. 18 at a ceremony held at the Church of the Open Door, United Church of Christ in Miami.