(YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio) – Rayen Early College Middle School student Kane Pickard has a vision to help end youth violence – he strives to lead by example.
Some things I could do to change this world is give inspiration to others, make others think about their actions and start a non-youth violence group spreading love and consideration to other teens and kids. I could start self love camps to resolve some of the problems and make them feel better about themselves and give more confidence to all kids that are willing to give themselves a chance to change the way they act on things.
Kane is one of 10 students from the Youngstown City School District honored this afternoon 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.
“Everybody who reads what you wrote, including the Attorney General of Ohio, is getting a better picture of the world and a more complete idea of how it could be,” Yost said. “Now go ahead and change the world for the better!”
Yost’s office launched the program in Ohio two years ago with Springfield City Schools. Since then, “Do the Write Thing” has expanded to four more school districts: Canton, Lima, Youngstown and Zanesville.
This is Youngstown’s first year participating in the program, which encourages students to put in their own words – maybe for the first time – a personal and sometimes-painful experience. In that sense, the experience is meant to be cathartic, a tool to help them move on.
The Youngstown program received 120 submissions from seventh- and eighth-grade students at Chaney Middle School, East Middle School and Rayen Early College Middle School. The award ceremony was held today at Cassese’s MVR.
Community members and business leaders volunteered to judge the submissions. The top 10 stories will be published as a booklet and shared across the state to bring greater attention to the problem of violence.
Madison Keys and Kane Pickard will join six students from the other participating districts as Ohio’s ambassadors to the “Do the Write Thing” conference in July in Washington, D.C.
Youngstown City Schools Superintendent Justin M. Jennings said the district was honored to partner with AG Yost in the program.
“Our scholars’ stories are honest, raw, thought-provoking, and insightful of their everyday experiences,” he said. “We hope their writing their personal accounts will drive awareness and motivate sustaining change.”
“Do the Write Thing,” organized by the National Campaign to Stop Youth Violence, was founded in 1994. The program has reached millions of students nationwide.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Hannah Hundley: 614-906-9113
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