‘Insight beyond their years:’ Attorney general recognizes 10 Youngstown students
Ten students from Youngstown City School District received recognition from the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for writing with “insight beyond their years” in a nationwide program.
Yost recognized these students as finalists in the “Do the Write Thing” program.
Writers from Ohio middle schools in Youngstown, Canton, Lima and Zanesville enter essays candidly discussing their real-life experiences with violence and offer solutions for their communities.
“I know it’s not easy to write about violence,” Yost said in the video. “But your essays were thoughtful, eye-opening, provocative – exactly what we need to learn from you, our young citizens, to give us a better understanding of the world you’d like to live in and how it looks now from your point of view.”
As finalists, the students will have their essays published in a booklet that will be distributed statewide.
Treyvaughn Belmonte and Sheliyan Roach are representing the Youngstown school district as ambassadors at the Do the Write Thing national conferencein Washington, D.C. in July.
How many students submitted essays?
The district received 600 submissions this year from students at Chaney Middle School, East Middle School and Rayen Early College Middle School.
Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor praised the program for the opportunity it gives students to be heard.
“Our community has endured many devastating events on city streets that have given our scholars and their families a front-row seat to trauma and its aftermath,” he said. “Our scholars brought raw emotion and transparency to their writings. Their expressions have raised the level of understanding of the trauma in the community.”
It’s the third year Youngstown seventh- and eighth-graders with this platform to articulate encounters with violence.
The award ceremony took place today at B&O Station in Youngstown.
Yost was unable to attend the event, but shared a virtual message with students.
When did “Do the Write Thing” start in Ohio?
The Do the Write Thing program started in Ohio in 2021.
Four districts currently participate: Canton, Lima, Youngstown and Zanesville.
The program was founded by the National Campaign to Stop Violence in 1994.
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