SIMI VALLEY : Youths Feted for Essays on Women

Eli Erickson didn’t know his Aunt Melissa when she was a child, but her struggle to lead a productive life despite being born with multiple handicaps has strongly influenced the Simi Valley eighth-grader.

For his thoughts on how his aunt affected him, Eli was among 13 winners of an essay contest honoring National Women’s History Month. Hundreds of students in Simi Valley junior high schools participated by writing about ordinary women who were important in their lives.

“Those who allow themselves to be touched by Melissa, by looking beyond her differences without flinching, are greatly rewarded,” Eli wrote in his winning entry.

Eli and the other winners read their works and received framed certificates at an awards ceremony Tuesday night co-sponsored by the Simi Valley Unified School District and Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary society for women in education.

“It helps our students identify real heroes and real people in their lives, rather than sports heroes or political figures they never really know,” said Leslie Frank, principal of Hollow Hills School and the mother of two winners.

Frank’s twin daughters, Amy and Emily, wrote about two women from their church. “If everyone had some Barbara in them, our world would truly be more compassionate,” Amy wrote of Barbara Witman, a youth counselor at Simi Valley United Methodist Church.

“No matter what the cause, Diane is always giving of herself,” Emily wrote of a volunteer at the church, Diane Thomson. “Her generosity serves as an example to me.”

Eli’s aunt, Melissa Erickson, 31, could not make the trip from San Bernardino. She was surprised to learn of the essay, she said in a phone interview.

“I don’t think he’s ever asked me anything about it,” the kindergarten teacher said.

In his essay, Eli said he didn’t need to ask about the birth defect that caused his aunt’s skull to grow less on one side than the other, largely corrected through surgery.

“Melissa has taught me not so much by her words, but by her example and actions,” Eli wrote.