When Tim Brown from the Jackson Elks Lodge stopped by the Sutter Hill Adventist School in Sutter Creek, Calif., to invite them to enter an essay contest, they had no idea what the outcome would be.

Each year, the Elks Lodge sponsors an essay contest for students in grades five through eight. They are judged at the county level, and the first, second and third place winners go on to the regional level. Then, the winners at the regional level go on to the national level. There are cash prizes at each level.

Lynnae Webster, principal and teacher of the Sutter Hill school, decided to have her students who qualified enter the contest. So, as there are no fifth or seventh graders, the sixth and eighth grade students participated as part of their English class. The theme of the contest was “What is An American?” and it had to be 250 words or fewer. After discussing ideas in class, the students wrote their essays. The teachers helped them with their spelling and punctuation and also helped to edit them, but they did not change the content of their students’ essays. After they polished them as much as possible, the students turned them in and waited.

A few weeks later, the school received a phone call informing them that some of the students had won at the county level. Brown and Janis Beach, Elks Lodge president, came to the school and presented the students with their awards.

Each of the students who entered won fifth place or better! The eighth-graders won first and second place in the seventh/eighth grade division, which had about 50 entries. And the sixth-graders won third, fourth and fifth in the fifth/sixth division, which had about 100 entries. Everyone received certificates and ribbons. And in addition to going on to the regionals, the first to third place winners received gift cards to Wal-Mart. All the winners were invited to the Elks Lodge for a special recognition dinner, and most of them attended.

Although the school is small, having an enrollment of only nine students during the 2007-2008 year, the education that the students are receiving is top quality. That quality especially impressed Brown. “Some of the other students who entered essays need to come to this school,” he said.