Park University student Daniel Pfeiffer has gone above and beyond just writing an essay for an English class. Pfeiffer’s essay, which was an argumentative paper against book banning, was recently awarded the NCTE/SLATE Affiliate Intellectual Freedom Award.
Additionally, the essay has been published in an academic journal called Aisthesis.
The NCTE/SLATE Affiliate Intellectual Freedom Award is given by the National Council of Teachers of English Standing Committee Against Censorship. Pfeiffer wrote his essay in EN106 Writing Seminar II class as a freshmen.
Submitting the article to the NCTE is what got him the award. Pfeiffer was one of four national winners.
“So often I feel that I write essays that only my professors read and that I only care about the grade,” Pfeiffer said. “This award validates the work that I am doing and encourages me to seek more opportunities to share my schoolwork and projects with a greater community.”
Pfeiffer also said with winning this award it is a reminder that there is an obligation to use what is being learned in school in the world outside of academia.
