The Campbell Middle School seventh-grader's essay "My Culture" won the 2004 CATESOL—California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages—Elementary and Middle School Essay Contest. At the Campbell Union School District board meeting on May 20, he was presented with a certificate of commendation for his essay.

"Erick's accomplishment is amazing. As most people here are native English speakers, we really can't appreciate what he's done," Campbell Middle School Vice Principal Sheila Walters said.

Erick didn't speak English when he and his parents, Rafael and Yanira, arrived from El Salvador in 2000. But since then he's taken to studying the language of his new country.

While at school one day, one of his Campbell Middle School teachers, Nancy Bendorf, told him about an essay contest. Run by the California Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and sponsored by Ballard and Tighe, a provider of instructional products and services, contestants were asked to write on the following topic: "My Family's Culture Will Enrich the United States. Every culture has important values and the United States has benefited from this varied, rich background. How can we celebrate this beautiful tapestry of cultures?"

Erick decided he'd enter.

After living in this country for a few years, he said, he's observed a few differences between El Salvador and the United States, and he focused his essay on those differences.

"[In El Salvador] people are not as respectful as they are over here," he said. "People are more friendly here. This place is better."

Moreover, he said, this country has better technology and modern conveniences.

Even so, he said, there were a number of things his culture still had to offer.

Although Americans work hard, Salvadorans have a much stronger sense of family, Erick said. If the two cultures were mixed together, he writes, it would create a stronger society.

On April 23 Erick was awarded $500 at a CATESOL luncheon for having the winning entry based on this premise.

"This is particularly impressive when you consider that it was only in 2000 that Erick and his family emigrated from El Salvador to the U.S.," said Ballard and Tighe educational consultant Elaine Penkal, who presented Erick with the award. "At that time Erick was a non-English speaker and now—just four years later—he speaks, reads and writes English fluently."

Bendorf agreed. She said that Erick is currently classified as an English learner, but will soon be classified as fully bi-literate in English and Spanish.

"He's a remarkable young man," Bendorf said.