Rumbler Managing Editor Shelly Spencer recently won second place in the High School Essay category of the Tex Elects competition.

“Winning the competition was really cool,” Spencer said. “I didn’t think I was going to win, I was really surprised whenever I found out that I placed second, I felt proud of myself and I was just really glad that me winning this competition is going to help out our newspaper.”

Every presidential election year, the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin hosts the Tex Elects contest as a unique supplement to civics and government instruction in middle and high schools around the state. During Tex Elects, students are required to write, design or produce campaign messages encouraging students to vote.

The newspaper program will receive $150 for Spencer receiving second place.

“The money is really helpful for our program, because that’s enough to print half an issue,” Spencer said. “Printing the paper is really important to me because we’re the last district in the school that prints, and it’s awesome to be able to hold your work in your hands and say ‘This is awesome, look at what I’ve done.’ ”