Kalista Aadland, a sixth-grader at Simmons Middle School, at the Dacotah Prairie Museum with her winning essay about her great-grandmother. She placed first in the state in the Retired School Personnel Grandparent Essay Contest. Courtesy photo.
Kalista Aadland couldn’t decide which of her grandparents to write about in her grandparent essay, so she chose to write about her great-grandmother instead.
It was a great choice — Aadland’s essay won first place, and not just locally.
She remembers when Aberdeen School Board member Gayle Bortnem visited her classroom last spring to announce that Aadland won first place for not only her school, but also all of Aberdeen — and the entire state of South Dakota.
“My heart was going so fast,” said Aadland, now a sixth-grader at Simmons Middle School.
The annual Retired School Personnel Grandparent Essay Contest is open to all fifth-grade students in South Dakota. Aadland’s essay was selected out of almost 1,000 entries—and she is the first student from Aberdeen to win first place at the state level.
Aadland received her award at the South Dakota Retired School Personnel Convention in Pierre, where she also read her essay to retired teachers from across the state and received a plaque.
Her essay was about her great-grandma, Gale, who lives in Veblen. Aadland wrote about Gale’s house, what she does for her family and her role in the community’s 125th celebration.
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“She was the grand marshal, so we got to watch her in the parade,” Aadland said.
Aadland said she shares some traits with her great-grandma.
“She likes to read, and so do I,” Aadland said. “She does like to cook a lot, and I like to help my parents.”
What does she admire most about her great-grandmother?
“How she keeps track of all the grandkids and cousins and great-grandkids,” Aadland said.
Aadland said she also admires all of her grandparents.
“I have two sets of grandparents that live in town, so we see them a lot, and it’s really fun to hang out with them,” she said.
Aadland also has grandparents who live on a farm outside of St. Lawrence.
“It’s really fun to go ride on the four-wheelers,” she said.
She has grandparents who live in Minnesota as well.
“It’s fun with them because all my cousins live by them, too,” Aadland said.
Not Aadland’s first winning essay
She enjoys writing, and her grandparent essay wasn’t her only victory. She also entered a Drug Abuse Resistance Education essay contest last spring and took first place for her classroom.
“I liked writing before, but when we did writing every day in fifth grade, it started to get a lot more fun,” she said.
At school, Aadland runs cross-country and plans to audition for show choir.
She has a favorite thing about school.
“All the teachers,” she said. “They’re all really nice and helpful.”
With two writing victories under her belt, Aadland encourages other students who are considering entering a contest to go for it.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” she asked.
