Local ColorTyme owners announce winners of high school essay contest

Four high school seniors earned laptops for their essays

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Owners of five ColorTyme franchise stores in Maryland, Epic Ventures LLC announced the four winners of the 2009 Epic Ventures People Helping People Senior Essay Competition. Winners of the essay contest include Sloane Morgan and Adjana Ramirez of W.E.B. Dubois High School (Baltimore, Md.), and Guadalupe Osorio and Arielle Thomas of Fairmont Heights High School (Capital Heights, Md.) In the fall, Guadalupe Osorio plans to attend Grinnell College and Arielle Thomas plans to attend the University of Rochester. The winners were recognized at their high school graduation ceremonies, and each student was presented with a certificate of achievement and a new laptop computer, donated by local ColorTyme franchisees. The students’ essays will also be sent to the White House for the chance to be read by President Obama. The goal of the essay contest was to tie business and education together and to help high school students prepare for college and reflect on current events in our nation that will affect them in their futures. Each student’s essay answered the topic: With the election of Barack Obama to president, the United States of America enters into a time of great change and opportunity. What changes do you believe … A) Can be accomplished? B) Should be accomplished? C) Will be accomplished? Essays were judged by ColorTyme partners Scott Brown, Victoria Garcia, Louis Garcia, and Dave McNichol. Scoring was based on original content, creativity and the relevancy of the student’s proposed ideas. “We are very pleased with the results of the competition and proud of the students for all of their hard work,” said Garcia, ColorTyme franchisee and Epic Ventures president. “We plan to make the Epic Ventures People Helping People Senior Essay Competition an annual event.”

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About ColorTyme ColorTyme, Inc., founded in 1979, is America’s oldest franchisor of independently owned-and-operated rent-to-own stores. ColorTyme franchisees operate 206 rent-to-own stores in 33 states, and the company’s custom-wheels-and-tires franchise brand, RimTyme, operates 24 stores in 11 states. ColorTyme is headquartered in Plano, Texas, and is an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of the largest RTO company in the world, Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII).