Senior wins social media contest
CRANBERRY TWP — A Seneca Valley student has won a statewide social media contest for her stance on being drug and alcohol-free.
Senior Maria Scott, a 17-year-old Cranberry Township resident, recently won two contests sponsored by the Communities in Schools Pennsylvania group, a state branch of the nation’s largest school dropout prevention organization.
To enter the contest, students ages 13 and up were encouraged to submit pictures online that demonstrated their stance on being drug and alcohol free. The images were uploaded to the organization’s Facebook page, where users voted on their favorite pictures.
Maria submitted a picture of herself standing next to her mother, grandmother and godmother with the caption: “I choose to be drug and alcohol free so that my family can be proud of me.”
She won a $300 scholarship for placing first in the contest.
The second contest involved posting two poems to Twitter, poems that also illustrated her stance on healthy living. She again won first place and received a $200 scholarship.
She said she’s unsure of how many students across the state participated in the contest.
Maria said her stance is an easy one to take “for an infinite number of reasons,” most importantly because she can be an example for fellow students.
“I am the kind of person that can have fun doing anything, but alcohol and drugs are never in the picture,” Maria said. “I want to be a leader for my peers. I want to be the person that they can look at and say ‘Wow, maybe I don’t need drugs and alcohol to have fun.’”
Looking at her list of accomplishments, it’s clear that Maria’s mentality has paid off.
She is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Music Honor Society, as well as the Seneca Valley student council. In addition, she is a class senator and sings with the school’s chorus and the Madrigal choir.
She is also in the Students Against Destructive Decisions club and the Key Club.
Maria said she was notified of the contest by Jenifer McMurray, an honors biology teacher at Seneca Valley who is her S.A.D.D. sponsor.
Her parents Joseph and Christina Scott are proud of their daughter.
“We are thrilled for Maria that her caring ways and viewpoints got noticed,” said Christina Scott. “We realize it is so hard for teens to make the right decisions all the time. However, if they have a drug and alcohol free life, they will have a good start to adulthood.”
