ORLANDO, Fla. -- Misho Ishac Jr., a 10-year-old from Poland, Ohio, is one of 11 winners of Olive Garden's nationwide Pasta Tales essay contest. Winners were chosen from more than 10,000 entries written by students ages 7 to 16 who answered the question, "What is your favorite holiday meal with your family and what makes it special?"Ishac, who was the top winner in his age group, will receive a $250 U.S. Savings Bond and a family dinner at a local Olive Garden Restaurant.Pasta Tales is designed to encourage young writers to express themselves and improve their writing skills, says Steve Coe, director of media relations. Entries were judged on creativity, adherence to theme, organization, grammar, punctuation and spelling by the Quill and Scroll Society of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Iowa."This year, students had the opportunity to reflect on special holiday memories unique to their family," Coe notes. "It was great to see so many of them write about how their cultural heritage influences holiday meals, traditions and celebrations."Ishac's favorite family holiday, about which he wrote in his essay, is Christmas.The top winner is Nicolas Morlacci, a 7-year-old from Charlotte, N.C. His favorite holiday meal with his family is their Feast of the Seven Fishes celebrated on Christmas Eve. He will receive a $1,000 savings bond, a trip with his family to New York City and dinner at the Olive garden in Times Square. Other national winners include Aaron Sanden, Erie, Pa. (age 7); Abigail Dickson, Texas City, Texas (age 8); Ashley Adler, Massapequa, N.Y. (age 9); Allison Baker, Lakeland, Fla. (age 11); Will Callas, Cupertino, Calif. (age 12); Caitlin Russo, Belle Vernon, Pa. (age 13); Jack Vasilaros, Clearwater, Fla. (age 14); Heather Brown, Newtown, Pa. (age 15); and Leah Faurtosh, Phoenix (age 16).Olive Garden is a restaurant chain in the Italian dining segment with 534 restaurants, more than 60,000 employees and $2 billion in annual sales. Olive Garden is a division of Darden Restaurants Inc., the world's largest casual dining company.Visit Olive Garden: www.olivegarden.com "