Vines Student Wins H-E-B's
'Read, Write, Connect' Contest

November 1, 2006

Shannon Rummel, Vines High School student, was recently chosen by H-E-B as one of 10 semi-finalists in the H-E-B READ WRITE CONNECT Short Story Contest, making her eligible to win four years of tuition to any Texas state university.

Rummel was surprised in her Vines High School classroom in September by H-E-B Partners, friends and family, and was awarded a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond. (Pictured above, l-r, are H-E-B Plano Central Market representatives Connie Owens, Carole Greisdorf and Beth Dattamo, with Shannon, her mother Kerrin and Principal Roxanne Burleson)

Shannon's short story, “Haja’s Journey” was chosen from more than 2,500 entries that the company received.

As a former student at Wilson Middle School, Rummel wrote a short story about a young girl named Haja from a small village in northern Nigeria who loses much of her family to malaria. Through the support of her family, Haja finds the courage to succeed her brother as chief of the village.

“We want to invest in the future of Texas by encouraging young Texans to connect through literacy to expand their minds and education,” said Leslie Locket, director of public affairs for H-E-B. “Middle and high school students are vital to the future of our state, which is why H-E-B’s READ WRITE CONNECT program is investing in their future a four-year paid college tuition scholarship as the contest grand prize.”

H-E-B’s short story contest kicked off in February, with the final submission deadline June 1, 2006. H-E-B chose 10 semi-finalists throughout the state, one middle and high school finalist, from each of the company’s five regions. Two winners were announced on Oct. 28 at the Texas Book Festival in Austin and awarded four years of college tuition to any Texas public university. The two winners will also have their story published in a promotion to appear in an upcoming edition of TEXAS MONTHLY.