And the Winner is.......

MAVANEY KEEL!!!!!!

Mavaney submitted an essay a couple of months ago to a contest for American Girl. The essay was about how she was like an American Girl. She worked very hard on it & drafted quite a few different ideas, but it was all her own work. She handwrote it & then I typed it out for her & we sent both in, just in case. They named finalists & winners in each category & Mavaney won in her age group. She will be featured in Today's Woman magazine from Louisville who sponsored the contest. She won an American Girl giftbag & two tickets to the 2009 Preview of American Girl Fashions at Churchill Downs in October of this year. It is a full out tea party & fashion show & the tickets are worth $100.00. Quite a nice prize for an 8 year old. She said she could not stop smiling, she was so excited!!

I included a few more photos from the event, they had crafts for the kids to do, as well as huge cupcakes to enjoy & Miss University of Louisville who gave a speech to the girls about role models. She has a Master's in Nursing. Isn't she beautiful!!!!!! The girls were very excited about getting her autograph.

Here is the winning entry:

I am like an American Girl because I am brave, smart and proud. Like in Molly’s story, Linda said, “If you can do something you’re scared to do, then you’re brave.” I am like Molly because she is confident in herself and so am I because I know who I am and what I like. When I took swimming lessons, my teacher offered to let me jump off the diving board. I was scared to jump off because I saw that the water was 12 feet deep! But, I knew that there was always someone there to help me, so I jumped off the diving board and followed my teacher’s instructions and I was fine. I felt very proud of myself because when I am brave and do something I have never done before, I feel proud.

I am like Kit because I too have struggled when my dad left for war twice. My mom had my little sister five days after he left the first time. She needed a lot of my help and I had to be strong for her. Like in Kit’s story, her dad lost his job and she had to help more and be there for her family.

I am like Samantha because she tries her best. I try my best too, because I want my work to look good and to get better at it. I have two sisters and two brothers and I always try to be a good example for them. So when they grow up they can be brave, helpful, dependable and proud of who they are.

By: Mavaney Keel

Age 8

June 2008