Students shine in pro-life contest

“We stray far from our true freedom when we are not only led down a path of sin but told that it is just.”

 

That was the crux of Kolton Koubsky’s argument against viewing Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, as a step toward freedom. And that line of reasoning was enough for the student at Mount Michael Benedictine School near Elkhorn and member of St. Stephen the Martyr Parish in Omaha to win first-place for sophomores in the annual Pro-Life Essay Contest sponsored by the Respect Life Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Omaha.

 

Koubsky’s essay and those of other first-place winners in the contests for seventh-graders through juniors in high school can be read on the Catholic Voice website at catholicvoiceomaha.com. Just click on the icon for “Stories from our Readers.”

 

This year’s competition included a different question for seventh- and eighth-graders. Students in those grades were urged to consider how people can demonstrate God’s love for those who are vulnerable or dependent, such as an unborn child, a pregnant mother who is afraid to choose life, or the elderly.

 

In the questions for freshmen through juniors in high school and the query posed to middle school students, the competition is designed to help students stretch their minds and hearts, said Whitney Bradley, coordinator of the Respect Life Apostolate in the Center for Family Life Formation.

 

“We always hope it gives students and teachers an opportunity to think about the issues and to articulate them,” Bradley said.

 

Other first-place winners were seventh-grader Elizabeth Morey and eighth-grader Alaina Lorkovic, both of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish and School; freshman Peyton Noél Brooking, schooled at home and a member of St. Margaret Mary Parish; and junior Sadie Ziegerer of Chesterton Academy and Immaculate Conception Parish, all of Omaha.

 

First-place winners receive $40, an award certificate and have their essays submitted to the Knights of Columbus for a statewide contest that is judged separately and awarded in the fall. 

 

Second-place winners in each grade win $30 and third place $20, as well as award certificates. A complete list of winners also is on the newspaper website, www.catholicvoiceomaha.com/stories-our-readers