With the Pillow in Space launch to be held just a handful of days from now (you can watch it live on our Pillow in Space page on September 22 at 11:30 a.m. EDT), we finally have our full roster of Pillownauts!
The first four Pillownauts were selected in a competition among parents who adopted Pillows this summer. The final Pillownaut Parent spot was selected via an essay competition. We selected our favorite essay from entrants who wrote on the topic, “Why is sleep important to students, the budding scientists of the future?” Here are the top three essays, as selected by our judges:
The First Place essay, came to us from Mandy Sines, who becomes our fifth and final Pillownaut Parent. We loved her mix of humor and information.
Sleep is important to students, our budding scientists of the future, because they need to re-energize and restore their bodies so they can have a productive day when they wake up rested and refreshed. Students have to be able to stay awake during class so they can have laser sharp focus to learn how to be a scientist and avoid the embarrassment of being known as that kid who falls asleep and drools all over his desk while mumbling gibberish. Sleep is vitally important, but there is a time and place to snooze…you don’t want to miss out on what’s going on in the classroom.
Sleep allows students to dream, which sparks creativity and their imagination so they can envision going into space one day. The proper amount of sleep is needed for the body to repair itself and grow. Sleep boosts your immunity so you can fight off germs, recover from illnesses and stay healthy. Studies show that students who get a good night’s sleep receive better grades than their sleep deprived counterparts; now that is a statistic you can snooze on. Sleep will enhance your memory, reaction time and decision making skills so you will be at the top of your game.
Mandy has named her Pillow “Starlight Sweet Dreamsalot”. Starlight, the first and only female Pillownaut, will go into space with the previously chosen Pillownauts: McStuffy O’Fluffigan, Pillow Featherbed, Phil O.T. Pillow, and Pilwoah.
The second place essay, written in verse, was crafted by Barbara Conway.
If you want to grow up
big and strong,
Listen to this story.
It won’t take long.
Sleep can do your body
worlds of good
It will help you to remember
things you should.
Learning will be easier
when you get enough rest.
Helping you with math
or that really tough test.
Sleep will help your muscles
and bones to grow.
Those are just a few facts
that you should know.
If you want more information
or your sleeping is poor
Go to sleepbetter.org
and you can learn more!
The third place essay was sent to us by Nick Ortega.
Our budding scientists need focus, determination, energy and intelligence. The foundation of all these traits is a clean bill of mental and physical health. Mental and physical health starts, begins and ends at a “good” or “bad” nights sleep. Start everyday refreshed and renewed after a great REM sleep and tackle the day focused, determined and energized to intelligently accomplish anything in ones path. Sleep takes up 1/3 of your life on this planet, make 1/3 of your life count. Re-charge the batteries to shrug off the stresses of today and repair for the stresses of tomorrow. Grinding starts and ends at bed time.
We appreciate all of the essays we received. As a “thank you” we are sending each entrant a Pillow in Space Mission Patch!
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