Kent Denver Student Wins Essay Contest

Please join us in congratulating Ximena ’29 for winning first prize in the Colorado Association for Bilingual Education’s Proud to be Bilingual Student Essay Contest! Ximena’s essay, More Than a Movie: Laughing in Two Languages, focused on the movie Shrek and the way both the English and Spanish versions highlight two distinct cultures through jokes. As an example, she shared how the English version features the Muffin Man nursery rhyme, but the Spanish version uses a different character.

“There’s no better one,” Ximena said about the movie and its Spanish translation. “Both of them are great, and both of them bring a sense of culture into them that’s so unique. Being proud of both identities is such a privilege that not everyone can experience.”

Ximena won $200 for her first-place finish and was recognized at a special ceremony at the end of spring break, where she and the other first-place winners read their essays aloud.