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Since she was 3 years old Eliana Pentino has dreamed of being a veterinarian. On Monday, her essay on those dreams won her an award that will help her achieve them.
Pentino, a second-grader at Steenrod Elementary, was named a winner in the West Virginia SMART529 "When I Grow Up" essay contest, sponsored by the West Virginia Treasury Department. As a winner, Pentino received $500 toward her SMART529 account. She also is eligible for a sweepstakes among all the state's essay winners for another $4,500 in that account.
"I didn't expect (to win)," Pentino said. "I thought my brother was actually going to win because he had this amazing (essay), too. But I ended up winning and it was a dream come true."
Pentino wrote about her hopes of becoming a veterinarian in the style of the "Junie B. Jones" series of books, injecting some humor into the mix. She has wanted to be a veterinarian ever since she helped her dog Orzo get over a sore paw.
"I saw my dog limping on time, and I said to my mom, 'Why is Orzo limping?'" Pentino said. "And she said, 'I don't know.' So I took a paper towel and I started wrapping it around his paw and put a bandaid on it. It just kind of made me want to be a vet."
Steenrod Principal Michelle Dietrich said Pentino was the third SMART529 essay winner in the last four years from Steenrod. This year, Dietrich made it a point for the entire school to participate in the essay contest. And it wasn't just essays that were part of the fun, especially in the younger grades.
"In kindergarten first and second, they had some different people come in, they had parents come in and talk about their jobs," she said. "They had a career week around school to spark some of the kids' thoughts into maybe something they didn't even know they were interested in when they grew up."
Dietrich said the school also gets $500, and she lets the grade of the winning student choose how it's spent. The second graders have talked about getting a class pet, but other ideas include new playground equipment.