Commack Student Seeks Votes in Kaplan's Facebook Contest

A Commack senior is seeking last-minute Facebook votes to help her win a $3,000 scholarship to college this fall. 

Kayla Neville, a senior at Commack High School, is one of five finalists competing in the Kaplan Test Prep's Stanley Story contest on Facebook. She's seeking the most votes on Facebook based on her brief inspirational story about a high school teacher. 

Kaplan's Stanley Story contest asked high school students to tell who inspires them and why in 25o-words or less. Neville chose to write about her science research teacher, Richard Kurtz. 

In an excerpt from her brief essay, Neville wrote: 

Everyday, Mr. Kurtz finds the passion for science inside the student and fuels it with scholarly research articles, experiments, and new ideas. When a student approaches Mr. Kurtz with a new concept, he personally contacts as many people as possible to ensure the student has the best opportunity to make the idea come to fruition. Whenever I have a new idea, no matter how ridiculous, Mr. Kurtz encourages me to act on it and when I get frustrated with my project he offers new ways to look at the situation.

Neville also mentions in her essay that Kurtz is currently involved in a project to help build a playground for students who have cerebral palsy. 

The Commack senior currently stands in second place with 521 votes as of 6:15 p.m. Thursday. She is currently trailing the leading essay by less than 100 votes. 

The winner of the Stanley Story contest will recieve a $3,000 scholarship towards college. 

In order to read more of Neville's essay or vote for her in the Stanley Store contest, visit Kaplan SAT & ACT Prep's Facebook page. Voting closes on June 21 and you must have an active Facebook account to participate.