Let's Hear it for Middletown's Two CHET Dream Big! Competition Winners!

Two city grade-schoolers were among the student winners is this year's CHET Dream Big! Competition.

Fifth-grader Jamil Sampel and fourth-grader Sam Maldonado, both of Middletown's Macdonough Elementary School, earned accolades for their essays in this annual drawing and essay contest for Connecticut students in kindergarten through grade five. 

You can read each of their essays below.

The competition ran from Jan. 22 through March 22 and was designed to encourage families to start thinking about how higher education may help their children realize their dreams and make a difference in the world, and to promote the importance of saving for college early through a CHET account.

Children in kindergarten through grade three were asked to draw a picture that portrays the answer to the question, “What do I want to do after I go to college?”

The fourth- and fifth-grade students were asked to write an essay explaining, “How will I change the world after I go to college?”

Nearly 2,300 entries were received from across the state.

A panel of judges selected the competition winners. Ninety-six winners—two winners (one girl and one boy) from each of Connecticut’s eight counties from every grade—were possible (unless entries were not received from each county or in each grade).

Winners were honored during an awards ceremony on May 16 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. The parents or legal guardians of the student winners were each awarded a $300 contribution to a CHET direct-sold account. Additionally, $50 gift cards were awarded to the first 100 teachers who entered students in the competition. 

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