By Traci Newell

Joe Hu/Town Crier The contest winners pose after receiving recognition at an ice cream social May 9.

A metal roller skate, a doll made of cotton and thread, wooden blocks, a rocking horse, a rubber band. Los Altos children discovered some of the simpler toys used in the past while writing essays for the Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest this year.

The contest, co-sponsored by the Los Altos History Commission and the Los Altos History Museum, is open to all third- through sixth-graders in Los Altos. This year students wrote essays on “Recreation Remembered: Toys, Books and Games from the past.” Essayists had to interview an older person about what his or her favorite toy, book or game was and why it was important.

“I wanted the children to know their own history,” said Thompson, creator of the 22-year-old essay contest. “It’s just another way to get the children to write.”

And write they did. Paul Foerster, historical commission member, said this year’s topic produced one of the largest responses in the contest’s history - 783 submitted essays. “The topic was really hot this year,” said Laura Bajuk, executive director of the history museum.

The top three entries from each grade were honored at an ice cream social May 9. Julan Prasad (Springer), Anna Wong (Santa Rita) and Farzan Fallah (Covington) were the third-grade contest winners. Caitlin Crosby (St. Simon), Christopher Lanman (Santa Rita) and Michelle Albright (Santa Rita) were the fourth-grade winners. Kathryn Johnson (Loyola), Saloni Kaikat (Pinewood) and Diana Gong (Oak) were the fifth-grade winners. Jared Vallner (Loyola), Jasmine Xu (Santa Rita) and Andrew Eggers (Covington) were the sixth-grade winners.

“These are wonderful stories that help you reach back to your ancestors and your roots, and that is wonderful,” said Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard at the social, which also was attended by several city councilmembers.

In researching and writing the essays, children learned that their parents, uncles and grandparents were much less fortunate.

Jasmine Xu, a sixth-grade Santa Rita student, wrote about her mother, who played with a rubber band during her childhood in China. “Simplicity is sometimes the best way to go,” she wrote in the conclusion of her essay.

Farzan Fallah, a third-grade Covington student, wrote about her grandmother, who did not have any toys except for a doll her sister made for her. “Listening to my 75-year-old grandmother talking about her only childhood toy so passionately made me realize how much things have changed from two generations ago till today,” she wrote.

Foerster said the education committee of the Association of the Los Altos Historical Museum, a private, non-profit organization, judged the essays. Some of the teachers in Los Altos assigned the topic as projects in their individual classes, he added.

“The students may not know everything about Los Altos, but through this competition they can become a part of the history making,” said Heidi Robertson, a sixth-grade teacher at Loyola, whose student Jared Vallner was a winner.