Wade Park School students named winners of the middle school portion of the Stop the Hate Youth Sing Out contest, penning and performing their original song “Yours N Mines.” The school will receive a $5,000 anti-bias education grant.
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, in partnership with Roots of American Music (ROAM) and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, are celebrating the voices of young people standing up to bias and bigotry through the annual Stop the Hate® Youth Sing Out contest. This is the first of three Stop the Hate events that will occur in the 2019/20 school year: two song contests for schools and one essay writing contest for individual students.
Last week middle school classes from across Northeast Ohio stood on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in front of a panel of prestigious judges and their fellow competitors, to sing original songs they had penned with a teaching artist from ROAM. This was a culmination of a semester long project that began with a Stop the Hate tour at the Maltz Museum, where students learned about history of bias. Then, students were asked to reflect on discrimination they witness or experience in their own lives. Turning their words into song lyrics, their voices share their experiences and speak out against hate.
The Maltz Museum is proud to announce that the winner for the middle school portion of the Stop the Hate Youth Sing Out contest is Wade Park School, CMSD for their song “Yours N Mines.” Runner Up is Newton D. Baker School of Arts, CMSD for their song “Fight The Hate, Don’t Discriminate.”
An estimated 1,000+ students from 17 middle school classes and 25 high school classes representing 14 different schools will participate this year, to pen and perform songs for Stop the Hate® Youth Sing Out. After they perform, their capstone experience is to learn about the power of music in protest on a tour at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This annual program sharpens written and oral language skills while fostering a deeper understanding of historic human rights events as an arts-integrated learning initiative. Students are also vying to win anti-bias education grants for their schools.
Each year, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage gives out $100,000 in scholarships and anti-bias education grants in recognition of 6-12th grade upstanders in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, and Wayne counties as part of its Stop the Hate® program. Included in this number is the grand prize of a $40,000 scholarship for one junior or senior who wins an essay writing contest called Stop the Hate® Youth Speak Out.
If young people are looking for a way to express their own experiences with intolerance and speak out about what they have done or want to do to stop the hate, the Maltz Museum encourages them to participate in the Stop the Hate® Youth Speak Out essay writing contest. Submissions should to be 500 words or less.
STUDENTS CAN ALSO WRITE ESSAYS TO USE THEIR VOICES AND WIN BIG!
Essays Due for Grades 6-10: Wednesday, January 8, 2020; 11:59 pm
Essays Due for Grades 11 & 12: Wednesday, January 20, 2020; 11:59 pm.
Darrell McNair, who is Chair of Stop the Hate, said, “As a minority, I have witnessed and experienced hate and racial bias throughout my life and it’s embarrassing to say it remains in our society today. When I see the thousands of children pen their essays on stopping the hate, it brings warmth to my heart to know that these young people will one day be the leaders in our society and work to ensure that inclusion and acceptance become the norm and not the exception. This is why I support Stop the Hate, one person at a time.”
To learn more about this year’s theme and guidelines for entry, please visit www.maltzmuseum.org/STH
