BRAINTREE -- The Catholic Schools Office has announced the winners of its annual Discover Today's Catholic Schools in New England Art and Essay Contest, which invites students to explore and explain their faith through art or writing.

Discover Catholic Schools in New England (DCSNE) is an annual weeklong celebration of Catholic education in dioceses across New England, highlighting the achievements of Catholic schools and encouraging people to explore their local Catholic schools. The Archdiocese of Boston's Catholic Schools Office (CSO) has held its Art and Essay Contest in honor of DCSNE since 2018.

The contest was organized by Mariana Fontoura, CSO enrollment specialist. According to the CSO website, more than 300 entries were submitted this year.

"The contest was created in a way to show our students' hard work, their intimacy with God, and for them to have a fun time. It's always encouraging and brings us joy reading their submissions and realizing their commitment to the contest," Fontoura said on the CSO website.

The prompts, which varied by age group, were related to the Eucharist in honor of the archdiocesan Year of the Eucharist.

Students in kindergarten and grade one made pictures exploring the question, "Who is Jesus to you?" Grades two and three could either create a drawing or write an essay about how receiving Holy Communion changes them. Students in grades four through eight wrote essays about the experience of adoring or receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. High school students could create an essay, poem, song, painting, or audiovisual about how the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist changed their life, or how they would explain the True Presence to someone who does not believe in it.

This year's contest winners were recognized during a virtual meeting on Nov. 23. Cardinal Seán O'Malley, Superintendent Thomas Carroll, and Associate Superintendent of Catholic Identity Colleen Donohoe were present during the call, as well as many of the students and their parents.

The 2020 DCSNE Art and Essay Contest winners are:

-- Kindergarten: Gracen Noah Henry, St. John Paul II Catholic Academy, Dorchester

-- First Grade: Julia Hastings, Our Lady's Academy, Waltham

-- Second Grade: Jayde Wood, St Monica School, Methuen

-- Third Grade: Jilanys Luciano, St. Pius V School, Lynn

-- Fourth Grade: Ciera Naroian, Sacred Hearts School, Bradford

-- Fifth Grade: Joliet Naroian, Sacred Hearts School, Bradford

-- Sixth Grade: Nicholas Cavour, St. Patrick School, Stoneham

-- Seventh Grade: Cihara Mathieu, Sacred Hearts School, Bradford

-- Eighth Grade: Chloe McCracken, Sacred Hearts School, Bradford

-- High School: Andrea DiBiase, Arlington Catholic High School.