TEAM (Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism) and the Westport Library today announced its third annual high school essay contest on diversity.
The 1,000-word contest, open to all ninth through twelfth graders who reside in town, asks students to make sense out of the troubling, racially charged incidents from Charleston to Chicago over the past year.
Applications can be downloaded at http://www.teamwestport.org on Jan. 4, and completed essays are due Feb. 26.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Westport Library on April 4, officials say, and first prize is $1,000, second prize $750 and third prize, $500.
The prompt for essay reads as follows: “In the past year a troubling number of highly charged and tragic incidents – from Ferguson to Charleston to Chicago – have prompted public discussions and protests on college campuses about the state of race relations in the U.S. People disagree on the nature of the problem and on the appropriate way to address divisions in our society.” In 1,000 words or less, potential entrants are invited to “describe how you, personally, make sense of the events that have occurred.”
“The focus of this year’s topic is to help extend the perspectives of Westport teens beyond those which would normally be driven by local demographics,” said Harold Bailey, TEAM Westport chairman since its founding 11 years ago.
“In particular, this topic is one which has touched our community and others in Fairfield County directly over the past year,” he added. “We sincerely invite and encourage any and all potential entrants to follow through on their essay submissions.”
TEAM Westport was launched as a Selectman’s Task Force in 2003 and became a standing town committee in 2005.
Bailey said that individuals or organizations who would like to participate in sponsorship of the contest can contact TEAM Westport at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
