By Liz McBreen
The 11-year-old earned the top prize of a $500 savings bond in a prestigious Long Island essay contest sponsored by the Long Island Presidents' Council of the New York State United Teachers Association.
Rothwell explained that in his essay, he described himself "as a player, learning and growing to try to win the game of education." The teachers are his coaches, cheering him on when he is doing well, and lending advice and support where needed. His classmates are his teammates, the principals the referees. Rothwell says that a strong team is a group of people who work together for a goal, and his goal is to become smarter and develop his talents. Rothwell says that he thinks his school has a winning team.
In addition to being a player on his academic team, Rothwell also plays team sports. He is a guard on his school's basketball team. Off the court, Rothwell's favorite hobby is singing. He began singing at the age of 3, as a part of a church folk group in which his father sang. When Billy was 10, a "great music teacher" came to his school, Mrs. Cheryl Turk. "She really inspired me," says Rothwell, "and gave me a lot of solo parts. I began singing more than ever."
Rothwell began recording his music in a studio, and likely would have become a professional singer at that early age. But he and his parents felt that it would take too much time away from his childhood. These days, Rothwell sings mostly at church and in school, where he sometimes performs over the loudspeaker and is a soloist in the school's Select Chorus. For now, his favorite activity, he says, is "hanging out with my friends."
No stranger to winning contests, Rothwell won a school-wide songwriting contest last year. His song was about friendship, about respecting people's differences. It was called "I Hold in My Hand."
The young singer and songwriter finds all of his school subjects interesting. As for later ambitions, he might like to sing on Broadway someday, or become an elementary school teacher. He has also always been fascinated by the water and the variety of marine life.
As the winner of the Middle School Division of the third annual School Essay Contest, Rothwell's essay will air, in his own voice, on 13 radio stations this spring including WALK FM, WBAB FM, WBLI FM, WCBS AM, WCBS FM, WHLI AM, WKJY FM, WLIE AM and WLIR FM. Rothwell recorded his essay in February at a studio in Greenlawn. A possible date for his radio debut is May 9.
The essay contest was open to Long Island students in grades one through 12 throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. Sixteen finalists were chosen out of the thousands of essays submitted. Each finalist was then requested to submit a taped recording of his or her essay. Final selections were based on content, clarity, sincerity and spoken delivery. One winner was selected in each category: elementary school, intermediate school, middle school and high school.
