DUBOIS – A DuBois Area High School senior was recently honored in a national essay contest. Matthew Ferra, a senior at DAHS, was awarded honorable mention in the fourth annual Stossel in the Classroom student essay contest.
Ferra was among more than 6,700 students who entered the contest from around the country, with 125 essays chosen as prize winners. Winners won cash prizes ranging from $50 to $1,500.
The top two winners will receive all-expense paid trip to New York City for the taping of one of John Stossel’s weekly shows. For his honorable mention, Ferra received a certificate from Stossel and $50. He entered the contest through Dorothea Hackett’s AP Language and Composition class.
Stossel in the Classroom, a project of the non-profit Center for Independent Thought, provides free curriculum materials to teachers using video clips from John Stossel television shows and specials. Stossel hosts a weekly program on the Fox Business Network.
Students ages 12 to 18 were asked to write an essay about whether it should be the government’s job to try to keep people healthy by restricting their food choices, after viewing John Stossel’s TV special addressing the issue.