Fighting youth violence: Governor launches ‘Do the Write Thing Challenge’ contest

SALT LAKE CITY — The office of Gov. Gary R. Herbert and the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice invites seventh- and eighth-grade students to participate in the 16th annual “Do the Write Thing Challenge” to help stop youth violence in homes, schools and neighborhoods.

The challenge offers students across the state an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence in their lives and submit an essay of their thoughts on how to resolve the issue of cultural violence. The campaign emphasizes personal responsibility by encouraging students to make a commitment to do something about the problem.

The 2014 challenge involved more than 2,000 students, who participated in classroom discussions about youth violence. More than 1,000 essays were submitted by students from seven school districts and 10 different schools.

The deadline for entries is Dec. 10. One boy and one girl will be selected, along with their teacher and parent, to represent Utah at National Recognition Week in Washington, D.C., in July 2016.

Top essays will be published and placed in the Library of Congress. Additionally, all contest finalists, honorable mentions, their teachers and parents will be invited to attend a recognition luncheon, where the top two authors will be announced, next April.

Teachers are encouraged to incorporate the “Do the Write Thing Challenge” in their classroom curriculum. Lesson plans may be found on the Board of Juvenile Justice website.

For more information, including rules and entry forms, see the Board of Juvenile Justice website.

Related posts

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

 

 

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.