Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Winners

2024

​Scroll down to view student photos and read their winning essays!

This Year's Essay Topic
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​Aldo Leopold is most widely known as the author of A Sand County Almanac (1949) in which he articulates his land ethic:  “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community.  It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” ​
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​Today, we can look to Leopold’s writing to help guide us in addressing changing realities brought about by climate change, biodiversity loss, growing demand for fresh water, and other global environmental issues.
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​In his essay “Engineering and Conservation” (1938), Leopold writes:

​“Our tools are better than we are, and grow better faster than we do. They suffice to crack the atom, to command the tides. But they do not suffice for the oldest task in human history, to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.”
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Essay Prompt

Are our tools better than we are?
Think about tools in your life. Do they help or hurt your relationship with our ecological community?

2024 AWARDS
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First Place

Kayson Warner, Grade 7
Delilah Baker, Grade 9 
Colette Lee, Grade 10
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Honorable ​Mention

Alisha Wald, Grade 7
Elizabeth Wiegel, Grade 7 
Nathaniel Rosetta, Grade 8 
Mariana Clark, Grade 8 
Gavin Mitchell, Grade 11
Andrea Voinescu, Grade 11

Award-Winning Students

Click on PHOTO to read student's essay

​​GRADES 6-7

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​FIRST PLACE​​

KAYSON WARNER
Grade 7
Yucca Middle School, Clovis
​Teacher: Michelle Gaut

​HONORABLE MENTION

ALISHA WALD
Grade 7
Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe
​​Teacher: Susan Nichols

​HONORABLE MENTION

ELIZABETH WIEGEL
Grade 7
​Yucca Middle School, Clovis
​​Teacher: Michelle Guat

​GRADES 8-9

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​FIRST PLACE 

DELILAH BAKER
Grade 9
La Cueva High School, Abq
Teacher: Victoria Dixon

​HONORABLE MENTION

SCOTT ROSETTA
Grade 8
Native American Community Academy, Abq
Teacher: Morgan Barraza

​HONORABLE MENTION

MARIANA CLARK
Grade 8
Coyote Willow Family School, Abq
​Teacher: Adrianne Elkins

​​GRADES 10-12

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FIRST PLACE

Winner of the David E. Stuart Humanitarian Award for Special Merit

COLETTE LEE
​Grade 11
Santa Fe Prep, Santa Fe
Teacher: Drew Walker

​HONORABLE MENTION​

Winner of the Estella B. Leopold Memorial Award for Creativity

ANDREA VOINESCU
Grade 11
Santa Fe Prep, Santa Fe
Teacher: Drew Walker

​HONORABLE MENTION

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GAVIN MITCHELL
Grade 10
Albuquerque Academy, Abq
Teacher: Katie Dolan