ASTORIA — When Ryan Attard graduated from St. Joseph Catholic Academy in June, he was $500 richer thanks to a prize-winning essay he wrote about his family’s immigrant roots.
Both of his parents — mom, Angie Cutajar, and dad, Kevin Attard — are the children of Maltese immigrants, and Ryan’s ability to put their experiences down on paper earned him first place in a student essay contest sponsored by Father Michael Perry, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
This is the first time Father Perry, the former pastor of Our Lady of Refuge Church in Flatbush, has sponsored a contest, in which he put up $1,000 in prize money — $500 for the first-place winner, $300 for the second-place student, and $200 for the third-place finisher.
All the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn were invited to have their eighth-grade students take part in the essay contest. The second-place winner was Luke Biagini of St. Bernadette Catholic Academy in Dyker Heights, while third-place honors went to Isabel Uruchima of St. Sebastian Catholic Academy in Woodside. Theodora Marcelin of Sts. Joachim and Anne Catholic Academy in Queens Village earned honorable mention.
The essay contest, which was themed “How My Family Roots Shaped Me,” tasked students with writing about the immigrant experiences in their families, so Ryan wrote about his grandparents’ journey from Malta to America.
He did not expect to win.
“When I first found out, I was flabbergasted,” he recalled. “I knew other students had amazing stories about their families’ immigration from all around the world.”
Still, he was proud to present his family’s story.
“I’m glad people can find out about Malta and about my culture,” he added.
Malta, an archipelago in the southern Mediterranean Sea 50 miles south of Sicily, is a predominantly Catholic nation.
According to the International Center for Law and Religious Studies, 98% of Malta’s residents are Catholic, and the nation’s constitution establishes Catholicism as the state religion.
As part of his research, Ryan interviewed his parents and one of his grandmothers, who lives in Malta.
“I knew a lot about my family, and I’ve been to Malta five times,” he said. “But there’s always so much more to learn.”
Father Perry said that’s why he decided to sponsor the essay contest.
“Given our present political situation for immigrants and people from other places, I decided that it would be important for our kids to know their history, where they came from, or where their grandparents came from,” he explained.
His family came from Ukraine.
“My grandfather carried water for elephants in the circus,” he said, “and my grandmother cleaned houses and scrubbed floors.”
Father Perry approached the Office of the Superintendent of Schools with his contest idea, and they agreed to it.
The immigrant experiences the children wrote about included countries like the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Italy, Ireland, Peru, Ukraine, Pakistan, China, and Nigeria.
The winners were selected by diocesan officials.
Ryan, who plans to attend Archbishop Molloy High School in the fall, said he will put his prize money to good use: “I’m going to use it for my high school education.”
A PORTION OF WINNER’S ESSAY
‘How My Family Roots Shaped Me’
by Ryan Andrew Attard
To share my family’s journey and faith history, I must take you halfway around the world, to the Republic of Malta, a group of islands in the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between Sicily and Tunisia. St. Paul was shipwrecked in Malta in 60 A.D., which earned the country a mention in the Bible. St. Paul spent three months there healing the sick and preaching the Gospel. This event formed a very strong foundation for the Catholic religion and over three hundred and fifth churches and chapels can now be found across the islands. Mass was attended daily and life in Malta was ruled by the church bell.
The islands eventually came under British rule and were heavily bombed during World War II by Nazi Germany. The bombings destroyed many homes and ruined the local infrastructure and economy, leading to lives of hardship and hunger. This led many Maltese nationals to emigrate to other countries in search of jobs and survival. As subjects of the Queen, the Maltese were welcomed in England, Canada, Australia, and America.