Local students win honors in Maltz Museum essay contest

(Plain Press, April 2010) On March 21, 2010, The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage was full of excitement as the second annual Stop The Hate: Youth Speak Out! essay contest as 25 Northeast Ohio students in grades 6-12 received awards at a gala event featuring inspirational remarks from Ted Ginn, Sr. and Museum co-founder Milton Maltz.

Elizabeth Ye of Orchard School won first place in the 6th grade competition, winning a $300 prize.

Two Cleveland Municipal School District high school students received honorable mentions awards along with a $1,00 cash price: Rachel Littler - Senior, Garrett A. Morgan School of Science, and Mario Pollard - Senior, Cleveland School of the Arts

1,800 students from seven eligible counties—Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit-- shared their stories. Nearly half were juniors and seniors eligible for three scholarship prizes. The top ten finalists, who scored 90% or higher on the written essays, made up less than 1% of the total essays received. Essays were scored on content, originality and creativity and the utilization of the theme of personal responsibility.

At the dramatic Awards Ceremony, each finalist read his or her essay aloud for final scoring by a blue-ribbon panel of judges including Barbara Snyder, President, Case Western Reserve University; Felton Thomas, Jr. Director, Cleveland Public Library and Kim Wheeler, Anchor/Education Reporter, WKYC-TV Channel 3.

The essays were personal, compelling and powerful, each describing an act of discrimination and the students’ innovative solutions for how to overcome hatred and bigotry.

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