The Planeta Venus Hispanic Heritage Contest was a writing contest that took place between mid September though all of October. The results for the contest came out December 13. A total of nine students participated in the contest and five students were finalists. 

The writing prompt for the contest was ‘What does being Latino/Hispanic mean to you?’ There was a cash prize for the first, second, and third place winners. The essay was submitted online. You can read the essays on the Shout. Planeta Venus sent a group to judge, including Claudia Amaro the owner of Planeta Venus.

Noel Barraza, the first-place winner, wrote his essay as a Latino love letter. Originally students were supposed to write an essay in English and Spanish, but Noel blended his together.  

“I blended the essay together because that’s how I was raised,” Barraza said. It took him around three days total to write the essay.  

Ms. Sanchez believes the contest was a good thing because “it was nice to be able to recognize some of the good writers at North.” Ms. Sanchez also hopes that this year’s contest will help encourage other students to participate next year.