By Ivey Van Allen-Steinberg
When WISH
families and friends join together, the results get national
attention! Thanks to their daily voting, Erika Ross has been
named as one of only 10 finalists in Amway's national Positivity
Project contest. The contest, which was created to recognize
and celebrate the impact positivity makes in people's lives every
day, offers a grand prize of $10,000. Entrants were
encouraged to share their stories about how the power of positive
has changed their lives.
Ms. Ross has won an all expenses paid trip to Hagerstown, MD to
attend John Tesh's Christmas Concert on December 13, where a
special ceremony will be held during the concert to announce the
grand prize winner. The nine runners up will each receive a prize
of $2,500 while the grand prize winner will walk away with
$10,000-all given with the intention of paying forward the Power of
Positive.
"It's very easy to become discouraged by the
de-prioritization of public education. As the daughter of two
lifelong public school teachers, I refuse to give up on quality
public education. It is this passion that brought our family
to throw our energy and positivity into a brand-new, innovative
independent public charter school. I see the positive results
in my daughter's experience and the experiences of the diverse
group of students. I'm so excited to have been chosen as a
semi-finalist in this contest, and to have others be able to see my
story," says Ms. Ross. "I want everyone to learn about my
inspirational experience-and most of all, I want people to vote for
my submission!"
The Amway Positivity Project was launched in August 2010 with a
goal to advance the power of positive in the world. Highlighting
everyday stories of how positivity has made a difference in
people's lives, the Amway Positivity Project encouraged people to
submit their own stories of the impact of positivity through essay,
photograph, video, illustration or poem. The 25
semi-finalists were chosen by a panel of five judges that included
motivational speaker and renowned composer John Tesh and lifestyle
blogger Lori Deschene of TinyBuddha.com.