(SPRINGFIELD, Ohio) – “I’ve seen my mom’s face beaten black and blue by my father, and her other boyfriends,” recounted Jada Crockran, a student at Schaefer Middle School. “Guns have been pulled on me and my mother due to her drunken words. These are just a few violent acts I’ve seen and experienced.”
Jada is one of 10 students from the Springfield City School District honored this morning by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost as a finalist in the “Do the Write Thing” challenge, a national program that asks middle-schoolers to discuss how violence impacts them and to share their ideas about reducing violence in their community.
“I have to say I was amazed by the passion, the thoughtfulness, the self-awareness and the writing that the Springfield middle-schoolers brought to this project,” Yost said. “I am inspired by their commitment to make this world a better place.”
Last year, Attorney General Yost partnered with the Springfield City School District for the first Ohio Do the Write Thing challenge. Springfield is in its second year of the program, and three other districts – Canton, Lima and Zanesville – partnered with Yost’s office for the first time this year.
Do the Write Thing gives students the opportunity to put into their own words – maybe for the first time – a highly personal and sometimes-painful experience. In that sense, the experience is meant to be cathartic, a tool to help them move on.
The Springfield program received more than 600 submissions from seventh- and eighth-grade students at Hayward, Roosevelt and Schaefer middle schools. The award ceremony was held today at the John Legend Theater.
Springfield community members and business leaders volunteered to read the essays and choose the 10 submissions that best addressed key questions:
- How does violence affect your daily life?
- What are some of the causes of youth violence in your community?
- What can you as an individual do to reduce youth violence in your community?
The middle-schoolers’ stories are insightful and moving, as these excerpts show:
“I saw people getting pushed around when I was in grade school and I didn’t do anything about it because I was scared that if I told on the bullies, they would come back on me and hurt me more than they already were.” – Akeela Crossley, Hayward
“It is globally known that many bullies pick on those smaller than them because they feel that they are easy targets. This behavior is easily recognizable as the behavior of predatory animals in the wild such as eagles that take fish from the sea or spiders that entrap their prey in their webs and eat them whole.” – Nolan Evans, Roosevelt
“I believe that one main cause of violence is poverty. People resort to violence so that they are able to survive in a community suffering in poverty. I believe that one way to help those in poverty is a community food drive.” – John Kelly, Schaefer
The top 10 were published as a
booklet to be shared across the state to help stop violence. The finalists (and their schools) are:
- Elise Brown (Roosevelt)
- Jada Crockran (Schaefer)
- Akeela Crossley (Hayward)
- Nolan Evans (Roosevelt)
- Anthony Fritts (Roosevelt)
- John Kelly (Schaefer)
- Jacqueline Lopez (Schaefer)
- Joshua Woods Jr. (Roosevelt)
- Jennifer Mesquite-Trejo (Schaefer)
- Airianah Wells (Roosevelt)
Jada Crockran and John Kelly were selected from among the finalists to become Ohio’s ambassadors to the Do the Write Thing conference in Washington, D.C.
Springfield Schools Superintendent Robert Hill commended the young writers’ judiciousness in tackling such heavy topics.
"We are incredibly proud of the work and heart that our students have put into this essay challenge,” he said. “Their decision to choose peace over violence has put them on an excellent path to be the leaders I know they can be. I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to read what these students have to say. They are wise beyond their years."
Do the Write Thing, organized by the National Campaign to Stop Youth Violence, has reached millions of students with its program.
Attorney General Yost’s remarks from today’s event can be found
here.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Hannah Hundley: 614-906-9113
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