Fifth Grader Jessica Juoni Selected for Statewide Writing Project

Jessica Juoni, a fifth grader a J.W. Long School was published in the May edition of Connecticut Student Writers Magazine.  

Juoni said the essay is about factory farming and the way they actually treat the animals. Juoni said she doesn’t like the conditions on factory farms because “They’re (animals) are all crowded together and it’s bad for them.”

Jessica said she wrote the essay with the hopes “To help the animals there get into regular farms instead of factory farms.”  

Jessica wrote the essay mostly on her own although her teacher did recommend a couple websites to help. Mostly she was aided by her love of animals.    

“I do love animals a lot and I read a lot of animal books," she said.

Jessica said she was pretty excited that her poem was selected because not very many students do get published, especially at such a young age.

“I felt really excited because I never got selected to go to a big thing,” she said.    

Despite her early talent and fame she’s not certain that writing will be her career choice. “I do like writing but not as much as reading fairytail books,” she said. 

Excerpted from "Old McDonald Did Not Have a Factory Farm" by Jessica Juoni:

Healthy food, like nutritious apples and carrots, chicken and eggs lean beef etc. should help you get healthy and grow, but sometimes, the opposite can happen. Imagine yourself put into a three by three cage. You can't stand up, stretch, or go for a walk. This is what life is like for many if not all animals raised on factory farms. Factory farms are cruel, unethical places for animals to live. Factory farming is one of the reasons humans get sick. Factory farming is a dangerous way to create food, for the animals, workers and environment. 

Click here to read the full text of Jessica's essay. 

Other Ledyard students were Rachel Solomon, Ally Tran, Ian Kamperschroer, Natalia Shields, and Connor Doran.