PEP Students to Compete in “Stop the Hate” Essay Contest
This year students from PEP Hopewell are participating in a contest through the Maltz Museum called “Stop the Hate.” The program is for 6th – 12th graders in Northeast Ohio and has two options for participating: an essay contest known as “Youth Speak Out” or a song-writing competition known as “Youth Sing Out.”
According to the Maltz Museum the contest celebrates “Northeast Ohio students in sixth to twelfth grade who are committed to creating a more accepting, inclusive society by standing up and speaking out against bias and bigotry as they compete for a chance to win prestigious prizes.”
PEP students join approximately 3,000 other participants from across Northeast Ohio who are competing in the contest. Top winners are awarded scholarships and their schools are awarded anti-bias education grants.
Examining Personal Challenges in a Safe Space
All ninth through twelfth graders at PEP Hopewell are entering the essay contest with the help and guidance of high school English Language Arts teacher Hope Ann Wohlers.
The prompt for the essay contest asks students to write about a personal experience of injustice, bias, discrimination or exclusion and how it impacted them. At PEP, where many students have faced trauma, the prompt has been a way to unburden themselves about some of their difficult experiences.
“This is a sensitive topic for many students in my classes who have experienced sexual assault, racial slurs and bullying; I know this because I have learned recently through reading their essays just how difficult some of these situations have been for them,” said Wohlers. “Writing has helped students to recount harmful experiences in a safe and regulated way. Typically quiet and withdrawn students have used this essay to open up and be vulnerable by sharing some difficult truths.”
Wohlers explained that the contest has also facilitated critical conversations around what discrimination and exclusion look like in our daily lives.
“This project is great for PEP because we have a group of diverse students with very different experiences, and providing space in the classroom to discuss sexism, ableism and racism has given students a chance dive deeper into some of the covert ways we experience discrimination in our society.”
What’s Next?
Starting this month, a volunteer from the Maltz Museum will visit PEP Hopewell for writing workshops with these students. Workshops will take place twice a week for three weeks. The volunteer’s role is to help students understand what it means to use their voice and how to put their personal experiences into writing.
“The essay contest has been a wonderful fit for PEP since it not only presents an opportunity to develop academic skills like writing and critical thinking, but also provides a therapeutic approach to discussing difficult experiences,” said Christine Zanoni, director, curriculum and instruction. “We definitely want to continue participating in the future.”
To learn more about PEP Hopewell or PEP’s other Day Treatment Centers visit our website. To see if a student in your district may be a good fit, contact Nicole Molnar, clinical coordinator, at 216-361-7760 ext. 110 or via email.
*Please note, referrals are made through school districts. Interested parents or caregivers should contact their school administrator.*