Kudos to Dawson Zarazinski for winning the 2017 Texas State Historical Association's Junior Historians "Lone Star Leader in Texas History" essay contest! His entry, titled "Charles Goodnight 'Father of the Texas Panhandle'" earned him a full scholarship to attend a 2017 Lone Star Leadership Academy camp. He took part in this week's June 11-16 Dallas/Fort Worth camp.

I met with Dawson this morning, his last day at camp, to congratulate him and to learn a little more about him. I asked Dawson what motivated him to enter the contest and he stated, "I do well in UIL Writing and thought I had a pretty good chance, so I entered." When I asked what was his favorite experience during the week he said, "That's hard. Either AT&T Stadium or the Texas Civil War Museum. I'm all about the Civil War and I've always liked learning about it. My great-great-great-great grandfather fought in the Civil War." He also shared, "I'm also really excited about visiting Ranger Stadium later today. They're one of my teams!" It was a delight to have Dawson take part in the Lone Star Leadership Academy camp this week. Kudos to this young leader and writer!