Spanish IB junior Juan Rodriguez-Calvet earned first place and a $100 award as part of the Cervantes Student Essay Contest.
The contest was sponsored by the Nova Southeastern University and the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education’s Hispanic Advisory Board, and began 19 years ago. It was established in celebration and recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.  Although student participants did not have to be Hispanic or speak Spanish, their essays needed to recognize the value of the Hispanic community and relate to it in some way. Essays could be written in either English or Spanish, and all 230,000 students in Miami-Dade County could participate.
Spanish A Language and Literature IB teacher Silvia Muñoz-Moll had her students listen to a speech from the King of Norway, as a way to help them come up with ideas, where he talked about how today’s world is divided even if people live together. While listening to this essay, Rodriguez-Calvet was inspired to use the metaphor of a fruit salad to describe the common bonds that exist in a diverse community.
“I used the metaphor of a fruit salad [as] being our society, and if you take out any of the fruits, then it does not have the same flavor,” said Rodriguez-Calvet.
In order to participate, each school had to submit only one essay.  Spanish teachers Maria Eva Molina, Oscar Montero, and Silvia Muñoz-Moll evaluated all entries, and selected Rodriguez-Calvet’s as the representative essay for Gulliver Prep.
“What I liked about Juan’s essay was its genuine voice and originality, in discussing social inclusion,” said Muñoz-Moll.
Rodriguez-Calvet received his award on Oct. 25, along with his Spanish teacher Silvia Muñoz-Moll at a ceremony held at the Hilton Miami Airport Hotel.