Freshman Jennifer Wayland wrote an award winning essay for the Breaking Barriers contest sponsored by Scholastic and Major League Baseball. Jackie Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, came to the school to give the award, as well as a brand new Samsung tablet, to Wayland.

The Breaking Barriers essay writing contest, created in honor of Jackie Robinson, chose freshmen Jennifer Wayland as a Grand Prize winner for her essay describing the barrier she broke, her body image.

“When I read her essay, I thought that she really had a chance of getting noticed,” english teacher Cindy Krone said.

Krone also was given the same Samsung tablet. The ceremony was held in Krone’s room during Wayland’s 6th block English I class on Tuesday, May 1, with Robinson speaking with all the kids.
“After she spoke, [Robinson] signed books and talked to each student individually. I thought that that takes a special person.”

The Breaking Barriers contest had 18, 600 entries and the prompt was choosing a barrier that the writer has broken through to get somewhere in their life. Robinson said that they wanted them not so much to linger on the problem, but on the process of breaking through the barrier just like Jackie Robinson did with the color barrier in baseball and specifically the MLB.

Robinson came to the school after visiting another winner in the University City school district. Both were recognized at the April 30 St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium.

“I came here to recognize Jennifer Wayland. To me, the real testament to how [Jackie Robinson] affected us is how she related what he did to her barrier,” Robinson said.

For the full story, check out the May 9 issue of The Corral.