Delaware Interfaith Power & Light announces essay winners

Delaware Interfaith Power & Light has named the winners of its third annual RENEW 2024 Essay Contest.

The competition offered a platform for high school students to reflect on the role of youth on climate action, environmental justice and their personal sense of connectedness with the natural world.

Melisa Velasquez-Zunun, a junior at Sussex Central High School, was awarded the first-prize scholarship of $2,000 for her essay on environmental justice. About her work with the Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy, she wrote, “I and other younger environmentalists spent the summer working with the board on trail clean-ups while researching to inform our community about the potential dangers that runoff could lead to if nobody takes action.”

Tanisha Patel, a freshman at Delmar Senior High School, was awarded a scholarship of $1,500 for her essay about youth taking action on climate. Sharing a premonition of what could be lost, she wrote, “It is this emotional reckoning that fuels my resolve, driving me to envision a role for youth, for myself, in sculpting a future where hope outshines despair.”

Rudra Patel, another freshman at Delmar, was awarded the third prize of $1,000 for his essay on connectedness with nature. Reflecting on a photo of Earth captured by Voyager 1, he wrote, “This thought-provoking image reminds me of my shared existence with the wonders of nature on this tiny celestial body.”

An awards ceremony was held April 27 at Route 9 Library & Innovation Center, New Castle. Tekstrom has sponsored the essay contest for three years.

Displays featuring the winning essayists are going up around the state, the first at Rise Up Coffee, Rehoboth Beach.

For information, visit delawareipl.org or contact Lisa Locke at lisavlocke@gmail.com.