Castro student is seventh in state contest Castro student is seventh in state contest (May 21, 2004)

Essay about the future was written in Spanish

By Julie O'Shea

Will Beare, a fifth grader in Castro School's bilingual program, was honored last Friday by the Consulate General of Spain for a short essay he wrote in Spanish entitled "Al Futuro" -- To the Future.

During a small ceremony at the Spanish Consulate office in San Francisco, Will, 11, read from his essay, which placed seventh in a statewide Spanish writing contest that judged nearly 600 entries. About 100 students from around the state submitted pieces for the "primary and middle school non-Spanish speakers" category, which is where Will's essay placed. He received a certificate for his accomplishment as well as several books in Spanish.

"He's quite talented. I was extremely pleased and very happy for him and the school, too," said Will's teacher, Carol Pickering, who encouraged Will and a handful of other Castro students to enter the 12th annual "Escribo en Espanol" (Write in Spanish) essay contest earlier this year. This was the first year Castro students have submitted essays.

"I just entered because it looked like a fun topic, and I just like writing in both languages," said Will, during a lunchtime interview last week at La Fiesta restaurant. "It's a way to express myself."

The topic this year was "The Future." Students were asked to write about what they saw themselves doing in five years.

Will wrote about watching PG-13 movies, getting ready for his driver's license test, continuing his martial arts training and generally just enjoying high school life.

Is there a girlfriend in the picture? Will smiled, but his mother, Amy Beare, quipped: "Absolutely not -- that will be when he is 30!"

The Spanish writing contest is overseen by officials with the California Department of Education and the Spanish Consulate, who hope to promote the positive aspects of bilingual education.

The contest is broken down into four categories of native and non-native Spanish speakers in elementary, middle and high schools. Each student who entered an essay received a "certificate of participation."

"I tried to make it pretty catchy," Will said of his essay. "I get inspired in English and kind of write in both languages -- I just like how it sounds in Spanish.

"This is just a little bit of one person's life," Will said in-between sips of his Shirley Temple drink. "No one can really look into their future, but if you have a good imagination and know yourself well, you can get a pretty good idea (of where you're headed)."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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