Aiden Rodriguez of Mission Viejo, California, holding his Award of Excellence trophy. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
MISSION VIEJO, California—Six-year-old Aiden Rodriguez, son of journalist Cristina Peczon-Rodriguez, won first prize for his literature entry for the Primary Division of the National PTA Reflections Program in his school district.
A first grade student who goes to Bathgate Elementary School in Mission Viejo, Rodriguez bested his school peers with his short story entry, “The Knights Who Rescued the Princess from the Dragon.”
His story was inspired by a little girl he befriended in kindergarten who moved to another state over the summer. In his story, Rodriguez and his friends travel to rescue the little girl, only to find out that she had become friends with the dragon and didn’t need rescuing after all.
The National PTA Reflections Program, established in 1969, is an arts recognition and achievement program for students The program provides opportunities for students to express themselves creatively and to receive positive recognition for original works of art inspired by a pre-selected national theme.
This year’s theme, “Let Your Imagination Fly,” was selected to help increase community awareness on the importance of the arts in education.
Rodriguez’s entry was forwarded to the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) for further judging against 45 other school PTAs who had participated in the Reflections Contest.
This year, there were 2,517 entries submitted throughout the school district that covered visual arts, music, film, literature, dance choreography and photography. The Capistrano Unified District had 315 Awards of Excellence, 45 Awards of Merit, and 44 Honorable Mentions turned in.
Garnering the Award of Excellence trophy at this level, Rodriguez’s short story will now be headed towards the next round of judging to represent Bathgate Elementary School and the Capistrano Unified School District. The Fourth District PTA judging will be held in January 2016 and will be pit against 21 other councils in Orange County for the Fourth District.
State level Award of Excellence honorees will receive the opportunity to showcase their entries at the California State PTA Convention, an Award of Excellence medal, and a $100 savings bond to be presented to the student on stage at the convention.
Rodriguez was born and raised in Mission Viejo. He has visited the Philippines thrice since was born.
Last year, Rodriguez won second place at his school for his Kindergarten entry, “The World would be a better place if….” Students are allowed to submit entries without the aid of a parent or another student. Their work is judged on their literary content, artistic vision to portray the theme, originality and creativity. Primary level entries, covering students from Pre-school through 2nd grade, are not judged on their correct grammar.
Winning student Aiden Rodriguez with his parents Justin and Cristina ( Peczon ) Rodriguez and brother, Lucas.
“The Knights who Rescued the Princess from the Dragon,” by Aiden Rodriguez
Once upon a time, in a time when there been dragons, there were three knights who were friends. The first knight, Aiden, was the leader. Aiden was good at soccer, swimming, and he liked all kinds of food. The second knight, Max, was Aiden’s swimming buddy. Max was good at Pokemon and liked Star Wars, just like Aiden. The third knight, Brody, who was the tallest one, also loved Pokemon and Star wars too! Together, they were best buds and never fought.
Then one day, a girl named Kendyl asked them to play. Kendyl was a Princess, but she was not like other girls because she like Stars Wars too. And not just Princess Leia. Kendyl really liked the Dark Side and could use the force on the Dark Side. Princess Kendyl could also hold a light saber just like the boys. The four friends loved to learn to cook, try new foods and play soccer.
After the summer ended, Princess Kendyl had to go to a different state. She was moving to Oregon. They were all sad. The three knights promised to be pen pals with Princess Kendyl.
But one day, she stopped writing back. The knights then found out Princess Kendyl was taken by a black and white Dragon, with yellow spots that were ten feet tall! The Dragon was the size of a huge, huge, huge polka dot!
The three knights decided they were going to use pokemons on their journey to save the Princess Kendyl in Oregon where she was being held by the bad dragon.
The friends packed lollipops, gum, and toothpaste with their toothbrushes and set off on their journey. The first animal that they used from pokemon on their trip was a tiger. The tiger broke vines as they went through the jungle. They fed the tiger gum for a job well done.
The second animal that the three friends used from pokemon on their trip was Haunter, a ghost pokemon. Haunter was good at being the key to everything. Haunter did not eat anything since he was a ghost, but he reminded the knights to brush their teeth after eating a lollipop.
Finally, the three knights, with Haunter got to the castle where Princess Kendyl was being kept by the bad dragon. Haunter went through the door since he was a ghost and then he turned himself into a key to open the front door for them.
Once they were inside, there been a crazy maze to every place in the castle. The maze had many zig zags, ups and downs, lefts and rights, side to sides, and even flips! But they did it and found who they were looking for.
But, they were surprised to find Princess Kendyl! Because it turned out that Princess Kendyl was playing soccer with the dragon! She didn’t need rescuing after all!
And so the friends all played soccer and even invited their other best friends named Sean and Daniel to play in the maze castle. They were the only kids that had a black and white, yellow spotted dragon the size of a huge huge polka dot to be their soccer goalie. They cooked, ate new foods and lived happily ever after. The end.
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