HUNTINGTON PARK — An 11-year-old local girl, Erika Gonzalez, has won fifth place in the 2009 fifth grade writing contest sponsored by the Wolfsdorf Immigration Law Group in Santa Monica.

Gonzalez, representing Miles Avenue Elementary School in Huntington Park last year, was honored with a congressional certificate signed by Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, and a $50 cash award.

She also had the honor of opening the awards banquet at the Universal City Hilton, leading an audience of more than 300 in the pledge of allegiance.

“Her clever poem was truly inspiring and spoke to the great diversity we have in this country,” said Cynthia Lucas, an attorney with the law group.

She is the daughter of Jose and Marilyn Gonzalez. The family of four has lived in Huntington Park for 18 years.

Siblings are Lorena, Andrew and Melissa.

Gonzalez competed against some 300 entries from fifth graders in public and private schools across Los Angeles and Orange counties.

She entered through her teacher, Julisa Marquez.

“Erika wrote her first essay at age 4,” her mother said.

She is now in Griffith Middle School in East Los Angeles, a magnet school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Erika has put her prize money into a savings account and is saving up for college. She would like to be a veterinarian, her mother said.

Now heading into its 13th year, the essay competition is open to all fifth grade students in Southern California and calls for writing an essay on the theme “Why I’m Glad America Is a Nation of Immigrants.”

It is sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Southern California Chapter, and the American Immigration Lawyers Foundation.

Entries are to be 500 words or less and may include essays, poems, diary entries, personal narratives and letters, Lucas said.

They must be handwritten in pen or typed and include a cover letter with the student’s name, address, telephone number and school name.

Students interested in competing may contact the fifth grade teachers at their schools, Lucas said.

Cash prizes of $50 to $250 and drawing prizes are awarded.

Deadline for the 2010 contest entries is March 5, 2010.