Lauren Mendez was honored by the Hauppuage Board of Education on Feb. 26 for becoming a semi-finalist in the "Dear Mr. President" essay contest.
Mendez, who attends Hauppauge High School, wrote her essay on the subject of college affordability and was chosen as a semi-finalist from more than 8,000 essays that were entered.
Launched in August, "Dear Mr. President", presented by Rand McNally, challenged student authors to present a 400 to 600 word persuasive essay answering the question, "What important issue would you like the President to address?" The ten finalists addressed a wide range of topics including economic issues, such as farm bill funding and tax structure; health issues, such as diabetes research and autism health care funding; and social issues such as immigrant visas, education and the environment
