LaSata Announces Winners Of COVID Hero Essay Contest

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State Senator Kim LaSata has announced the winners of her MI COVID-19 HERO essay contest. She tells WSJM News she held the contest asking students in southwest Michigan to submit stories about heroes in their lives who are making a difference in the battle against COVID-19.

“It helps them to maybe work through their feelings about what they’re seeing in the world,” LaSata said. “We got some really great essays so it was a hard decision to make.”

Coming out on top were Lacy Mandarino from Watervliet and Adrianna Broussard from Cassopolis. LaSata says Mandarino, a fifth grader, wrote about front-line workers.

“She had a concern for every frontline worker, and her hope was just that they’re all protected.”

Broussard, an eighth grader, wrote about her mother, who is a certified nursing assistant, saying her mom is a hero because “even when a whole hall was full of elders who tested positive for COVID-19, she stuck through it.” LaSata tells us as a former teacher, she read the essays and chose the winners.