Calhoun’s first NCTE winner

David Bekore receives national award in writing

Posted

Calhoun High School student David Bekore was honored at a district board meeting on Nov. 2 as their first student to receive the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award.

Bekore’s name will be printed in a booklet compiled by the NCTE of the 263 winners this year from all over the country. The booklet will then mailed to the admissions department of 3,000 different colleges and universities with a recommendation for admittance and financial aid, according to Calhoun English Department Chairperson Kim Serpe.

As he juggles athletics, leadership roles, and extracurricular activities, there is poetic justice in Bekore’s success with his preliminary essay about balancing passions and obligations. All Calhoun juniors are invited to enter the first round of judging and last year the school received 30 submissions. The English department, led by Chairperson Serpe, chooses two essays to nominate for the national level of the competition.

Bekore said the prompt spoke to him on a personal level.

“When I first saw it, I thought, ‘Let me answer it how I would to a friend,’” he said.

Bekore channels his passion for writing through his school newspaper, Hoofbeats. He serves as President of Calhoun’s National Honor Society and Co-President of Merrick’s chapter of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth. Bekore competes for Calhoun’s football team, Varsity track team, and “Matelotes.”

He gives back to his community through a district program called “Athletes Helping Athletes,” in which high school athletes visit and speak with elementary school children interested in sports. When asked how he manages all of his endeavors, Bekore responded with a matter-of-factual shrug before saying, “It’s difficult, but I manage to get everything done.”

Bekore and a fellow student were chosen to write an essay on a topic of their choosing and submit it to the NCTE for the second round of judging. The topic Bekore chose was a look at how Americans from different backgrounds view the country’s wealthiest citizens. He hypothesized that there is a degree of respect for the wealthy that comes not from their actions, but simply their status.

“When we see people get to that point, we think that if they can do it, we can too,” Bekore explained. He said his inspiration for this topic came from its prominence in this year’s election cycle.

Bekore is currently looking at colleges and plans on writing no matter which school he goes to.

Calhoun juniors are invited to take part in the NCTE writing competition for 2017 by submitting an essay for the preliminary round of judging to the Calhoun English Department.