(KCJC) The 2020 Margolis Essay Contest and Scholarship winner is Dahlia Cukierkorn. She is a 2020 graduate of Blue Valley North High School. Cukierkorn will be attending the University of Missouri at Columbia in the fall to study speech pathology. Cukierkorn was awarded $2,000.
“I was very happy and honored that my essay won the Margolis B’nai Brith Memorial Essay Contest. I wrote this essay in loving memory of my Muslim friend Rania Bouzahzah. I was fortunate that Rania and her family came into my life to teach me that people of all faiths can love and respect one another despite our differences,” Cukierkorn told The Chronicle.
Dahlia is the daughter of Denisse and Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn. Rabbi Cukierkorn is the Rabbi at Temple Israel.
The competition is sponsored by the Kansas City Lodge #184 B’nai Brith. A focus of the essay competition is that peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding of different groups is critical for the survival of human beings. The scholarship was developed to stimulate discussion of this topic and related important ideas, as well as encouraging future leaders of our community to make this topic a priority in their social agenda. The competition is open to students graduating from Kansas City area high schools who plan to start college in the fall after graduation.