Three students at J.H.S. 125 got early Christmas gifts thanks to a local police officer who returned to give back to her former middle school.
Police officer Kaminie Jeeuth, of the 46th Precinct, held an essay contest this fall for students at Henry Hudson Middle School.
Each student who participated had to write an essay on their goals for when they are older and how they planned to accomplish those goals.
Jeeuth would read each of the essays submitted and choose one winner from each grade.
The winners – Angelica Chandradat from the sixth grade, Nishat Lina from the seventh grade, and Fadoutmata Drammeh from the eighth grade – were each awarded a brand new Amazon Kindle Fire.
Jeeuth also provided other participants with various types of books as a prize for participating.
She said it was hard to pick just three winners from the many essays she received.
“Ideally it was set up: three winners, three tablets,” said Jeeuth. “However, as I kept reading through each one, I was like, ‘O my God, this is really good and this is really good.’”
Neelawattie Arjoon, assistant principal at J.H.S. 125, also read the essays and shared Jeeuth’s feelings.
“When you read these essays some of them brought tears to my eyes,” said Arjoon. “‘Which one, which one?’ they all had something.”
Jeeuth, who attended the school from 1997 to 2001, was also impressed by the way in which the students were able to express themselves.
“To think kids this age – a lot of how they write is related to their personal situations,” said Jeeuth.
“When I was growing up, it wasn’t as common for kids to voice their opinions, especially on paper,” she added.
Jeeuth grew up two blocks away from the school and attended P.S. 119 which is right across the street.
She later went on to attend Lehman High School.
When asked why she wants to help give back to the youth, Jeeuth said, “They are our future.”
The Bronx Times received copies of each of the essays written by the contest winners.
Drammeh, the eighth grade winner, said she hopes to be an international spokesperson or a social justice lawyer when she gets older.
“To become an international spokesperson you have to sign up for a lot of programs and have a lot of experience,” said Drammeh. “So hopefully with the tablet I can organize my ideas and look up places where I can go.”
Chandradat, the sixth grade winner, hopes to be a teacher when she grows up.
“I enjoy learning lots of new things to become smarter,” she wrote in her essay. “If I become a teacher, I would be able to teach knowledge to children that are just as passionate as me.”
Lina, the seventh-grade winner, has her sights on becoming an activist, a doctor, and/or the first female president.
