LMS student earns national essay prize

A Madison student was among four first prize winners in a national essay contest designed to inspire students to overcome obstacles based on the inspiration of baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

April Riley, an eighth grader at Liberty Middle School, won the award in the Breaking Barriers Essay Contest. She is the only winner from Alabama.

The contest is sponsored by Major League Baseball and Scholastic.

Using baseball-themed activities, the program is designed to provide children in grades 4-8 with strategies to deal with barriers and challenges in their lives, while conveying the significance of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball in 1947. Riley and the school were visited by Jackie Robinson’s daughter, Sharon, last week.