LAWRENCE: Local boy 2nd in Princeton essay contest

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Evan Monfre was planning to go on a brief vacation with his family for the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
   But those plans were changed when the family learned that Evan’s essay earned second place in Princeton University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. Instead, Evan attended the annual celebration at Princeton University’s Alexander Hall Monday.
   Evan is a 7th-grader at St. Paul School in Princeton. His classmate, Meg Gordon, who also lives in Lawrence, earned honorable mention in the contest for 7th- and 8th-graders. Lawrence High School sophomore Vanessa Conde earned an honorable mention for 9th- and 10th-graders.
   Princeton University selects a different topic every year for the literary and video contest, which is open to New Jersey public and private school students in grades 4-12. This year’s topic was based on Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech, in which he asked the nation to imagine a world where people would not be defined by their external characteristics or assumptions.
   Evan’s essay focused on the discrimination experienced by people with special needs — those who have intellectual or physical disabilities. In his essay, Evan points out that when people are asked for examples of those who have suffered discrimination, the usual response is blacks and poor people.
   ”Not many people would think of people with special needs, but they are made fun of every day,” Evan wrote. “Just like Dr. King was trying to get people of different skin colors to live in peace together, people should treat others with special needs like normal people, because they are.”
   ”They do not need to be treated in a helpless way, or to be treated like a young child. They should be treated as normal, just like you and me. They are your neighbors, your friend’s brother, or even your schoolmate,” he wrote.
   Evan suggested that people with special needs should be invited to speak to students. It would open the students’ eyes as to how similar everyone is, and it could also help the people with special needs explain what it is like to be someone who has special needs.
   ”Health or other classes should have lessons about what each disability actually is and what each does, hopefully giving children a better understanding of them, which would lead to more tolerance. If everyone accepts others, our world would be one peaceful place, just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted,” Evan wrote.
   Evan said he was inspired to write about people who have special needs because his aunt, who lives with his family, has Down’s syndrome. It has given him some insight into what it is like to be different and how people sometimes look at his aunt because she is “different,” he said.
   ”I get to see how she acts differently and how she is the same as we are,” he said. She has difficulty with certain tasks, but she enjoys the same recreational activities that the other family members enjoy. She likes to go on outings with the rest of the family, because she does not leave the house very often, he said.
   Evan, who is a member of Boy Scout Troop 28, said he was surprised when he learned his essay had placed second in the contest. He said he did not think it was good enough to win, adding that he had put the finishing touches to it on the night before it was due.
   ”I was shocked (to learn I had won). My parents were making a joke about how we couldn’t go on a vacation because we had to go to the (Princeton University Martin Luther King Jr. Day) ceremony,” Evan said with a smile.