From State of the Arts, the newspaper of the Montana Arts Council ...
JulyAug2008
Michael Nelson, an eighth grader at Hellgate Middle School in Missoula, won an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, in July for his original poetry on the topic of violence. His mother and a teacher will accompany him.
Nelson and three other Hellgate Middle School students – Allison Otten, Kayla Weishaar, and Destiny Fowler – were honored in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Helena on April 12 as finalists in "Do the Write Thing." The nationwide writing competition is co-sponsored in Montana by the Montana Board of Crime Control and the National Council to Stop Violence.
The students' participation in the competition was part of a Missoula Writing Collaborative residency at Hellgate Middle School by poet and MWC Artistic Director Sheryl Noethe.
During National Recognition Week, national finalists have the opportunity to present their views on youth violence to such national leaders as the Secretary of Education, the Attorney General of the United States, the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and Members of the Congress.
In addition, their writings have been published and placed in the Library of Congress, and the NCSV has published a discussion paper on the Causes of and Solutions for Youth Violence based upon the writings of this year’s DtWT finalists.
The Do the Write Thing (DtWT) Challenge gives middle school students an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence on their lives. Through classroom discussions and writings, students communicate what they think should be done to reduce youth violence. In addition, they make personal commitments to do something about this problem.
By emphasizing personal responsibility, the DtWT program also educates adults about the causes of youth violence. Local community groups promote the program at the grassroots level so that teachers, school administrators, parents, coaches, and young people can bring youth violence into the open, where it can be examined and talked about in a constructive way.
For more information on the program, visit www.dtwt.org.
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