Haenni wins state police chief's essay contest award

• Photo: Essay winner

Farmington police chief Brian Linquist gave Abigail Haenni her award in a short ceremony at Christian Life School last week.

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It’s hard to say who was more surprised by a recent essay award – Farmington police chief Brian Lindquist, or Christian Life School eighth grader Abigail Haenni.

Last week, Lindquist stopped out at CLS to present Haenni with a plaque and a check for $100. Haenni was recently named a winner in the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association’s annual eighth grade essay contest.

The chief’s association sends information on the essay contest directly to schools, and entries are submitted directly back to the association, Lindquist said. At first, Lindquist wasn’t aware any local student had won in this year’s essay contest. Then he got a call from Northfield’s police chief.

It seems the Haenni family lives closer to Northfield, so the chief’s association forwarded Haenni’s award to the neighboring department. Not finding any Abigail Haenni in Northfield’s schools, the police department contacted Lindquist. One call out to Christian Life School, and the award winner was located.

The theme for this year’s essay was “Cool Technology Tools: How do I use them for Good?” The point, Lindquist told CLS students when he came to the school Thursday morning, was to challenge student to be careful in their use of cell phones or computers or other devices.

Haenni was one of 37 students statewide whose essay was chosen statewide.

Tags: elementary schools, crime and courts, education, farmington