Museum of Work & Culture Celebrates Students??? Creative Talents & Civic Pride
(WOONSOCKET, R.I.) ??? On June 15 the Museum of Work & Culture and Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt announced the winners of the Woonsocket Proud essay and art contest at an Open House for participating teachers, students, and their families.
The contest was part of the Museum???s ???Woonsocket Proud??? program, a civic pride initiative with Woonsocket native and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie serving as an example of an individual who has stood as a point of pride for the city.
Each Woonsocket fifth-grader created a tile describing something they are proud of, be it a personal accomplishment or their family, school, or community. These pieces were then gathered together to create a mosaic-style board for each classroom. The exhibit will be on display in the Museum???s changing gallery space through June 23.
Winning classrooms included Ms. Patricia Degnan???s class from Citizens Memorial Elementary, Mr. Brian Parmentier???s class from Harris Elementary, and Ms. Amy Palazzo???s class from Kevin K. Coleman Elementary. Each student in the winning classrooms will receive a copy of Before the Babe, the Emperor by Greg Rubano.
Additionally, the Museum sponsored an essay contest, asking students to reflect on Lajoie???s character and tenacity and explain how they planned to pursue their passion to become a person their community could be proud of.
Essay contest judges include Mayor Baldelli-Hunt, Woonsocket Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick McGee, baseball historian and author Rubano, and Director of the Newell D. Goff Center for Education and Public Programs at the Rhode Island Historical Society Dr. Elyssa Tardif.
The Museum received more than 140 entries and judges selected a grand prize winner as well as a winner from each school. School winners included Joshua Rodriguez from Globe Park Elementary, Eden Gisbert from Bernon Heights Elementary, Dayna DaSilva from Harris Elementary, Emilee Plasse from Citizens Memorial Elementary, Mercedes Medina from Leo A. Savoie Elementary and Joel Monge Pacheco from Kevin K. Coleman Elementary. Each student received a copy of Rubano???s book as well as 4 tickets to Napoleon Lajoie Night at McCoy Stadium.
The grand prize winner was Arouney Sithtaphone from Citizens Memorial Elementary, who received Rubano???s book, 6 tickets to McCoy Stadium for Napoleon Lajoie Night, and a family membership to the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Sithtaphone???s winning entry:
My parents were both born in Laos and didn???t know any English. My mom???s side of the family traveled from Laos, to China, to Thailand so they could be in America. My grandmother often tells me stories about her travels. She tells me about the struggle she had in the refugee camps and about how hard it was to be able to find enough food to feed herself, five children, and her husband. She tells me about how terrified she was when she first came to this foreign country. It???s been 30 years since she arrived in San Diego, California.
On a daily basis my father reminds me of how lucky I am to be in America and have an opportunity to be whatever I want to be in life. He often reminds me because he didn???t have the same opportunities as my siblings and I. Everyday he tells me about how proud he is to have children that help themselves with their education and future. Both my parents inspire me to be the best that I can be.
Because of my parents, I am proud to be a part of Woonsocket. I am proud to be able to call myself a part of Woonsocket. When I am older I aspire to be an artist and writer. I will not be known as the great artist/writer, but the young woman from Woonsocket who was able to follow her dreams and become the best I could be. I will become a source of pride for my community by owning up to my mistakes and making the world a better place by pushing past any negativity made by others and being myself. I will become a great source of pride for my community. I will be me.
About the Museum of Work & Culture
The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island???s mill towns in the late 19th- and 20th centuries. It was recently named ???Best Overlooked Museum??? in New England by Yankee Magazine.