If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. .. 185(~ ........ ] ............................... 7 cOmpihtion of writings was produced by the National Campaign to Stop Violence. For T~ore information on the Campaigns programs and activities, please contact the Campaign at: National Campaign to Stop Violence 1120 G Street, NW,, Suite 990 Washington, D.C 20005 (202) 393-7583 (800) Z56-O23S ;. ,. ," ;, '~i 7 ,.-,' , t, ~t}+,,;~, .... j.,~.,.~.,. J~ ']0]; ,.'b.t..'"'~' Please do not reprint any part of this book without first obtaining permission from the National Campaign to Stop Violence. Table of Contents I. Do the Wn~e Th/ngChallenge 1 ",3 II. Participating Organizations 3 III. National Campaign to Stop Violence Board of Directors 5 IV. Do the WrRe ~ Challenge Program National Finalists 7 Atlanta 9 Taronda Gibbons 11 Leo L. Tolin 17 Chicago 21 Roberto Coney 23 Rominna Villasegor 27 Denver 31 Emily B royies 33 PhiUip Dorsey 37 Hartford 41 James Shurko 43 Jackie Strong 47 Houston 51 Devell Blanton 53 Bianca Flores 59 Las Vegas 67 Takara Green 69 Paul Scott 73 Los Angeles 77 Jasmina Aragon 79 Raul Perez 85 iii Miami 89 Vanessa Butler 91 John Kelley 101 Mississippi 105 Sioban Scott 107 Shad White 111 Newark 115 Darren Alvarez 117 Iesha W'~liams 123 New Orleans 129 Nakeisha Brown 131 Avery Thomas 137 New York 143 Daniel Houck 145 Juanita Ramos 149 Philadelphia 155 Nancy Loi 157 Sean Medcalf 161 Washington, D.C 167 Angela Brown 169 Elijah Huggins 175 V. National Guard ChalleNGe Program Finalists 185 Alaska ChalleNGe Brian Nickerson 189 Brandy Spoon 193 Arizona ChalleNGe Ann Dahn 197 Alvin Johnson 201 iv Arkansas C_k~eNGe Joshua Hammock 205 Ebony Morgan 209 California ChalleNGe Shirley Kirkpatrick 213 Eddie Moise 217 Mike Graves 221 Ashley Stone 225 Georgia ChalleNGe Tania Del VaUe Torres 229 Doug Smith 233 Hawaii ChalleNGe Liza Lagazo 237 Edward Powers 241 Illinois ChalleNGe Erica Freeman 245 Bernard Lyles 249 Kentucky ChalleNGe Shreevia Scott 253 Jason Teegarden 257 Louisiana ChalleNGe Ebony Addison 261 Micah Arceneaux 265 Maryland ChalleNGe Tawanda Michelle Jacobs 269 Brandon Oehler 273 Michigan ChalleNGe Ryan Harju 277 Desiree Samson 281 Herman Cohill 285 Kysia Harris 289 Lamar Jones 293 V Michigan ChalleNGe Eureka Leeper 297 Brandon Long 301 Reuben Patton 305 Mississippi ChalleNGe Kelly Godbold 309 Cleveland Tops 313 Missouri Cb_aUeNGe Jonathan Borisen 317 Susan Shelton 321 Montana ChalleNGe Abram Boise 327 Barbara Jean Hoskinson 331 New Jersey ChalleNGe Jeffrey Kaiser 335 Sonia Pereira 339 New York C_k~eNGe Abraham Cho 343 Emilie Stein 347 North Carolina ChalleNGe Jason Ramage 351 Heather Ray 355 Oklahoma ChalleNGe Lindsey Cates 359 Oregon ChalleNGe C_b.fis Lowry 363 Ira Wagner 367 Puerto Rico ChalleNGe Luis Alvarado 371 Richard Martinez 375 Maritza Melendez 379 Yamil Rivera 383 vi South Carolina ChalleNGe Tanisha Hutchinson 387 Joshua Perrelh 391 South Dakota ChalleNGe Jessica Cottingham 395 Talisa Fleury 399 Shawna McGhee 403 Perry Middletent 407 Sammie Taylor 411 Texas Ci~eNGe Ryan Bruno 415 Arceli Davila 419 Abel Barrera 423 Daniel Coker 427 Meagan Laqua 431 Michael Mays 435 Jaime Padilla 439 Kryssia Pineda 443 Virginia ChalleNGe Miriah Heffner 447 Ben McKeUips 451 Wisconsin ChalleNGe Matthew Berg 455 Amy Dolato 459 vii DO THE WRITE THING CHALLENGE The Do the Write Thing Challenge (Dtl1~l) is an initiative of the National Campaign to Stop Violence (NCSV). Founded in 1996, the NCSV is a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization com- posed of business, community and governmental leaders who have come together to reduce youth violence in homes, schools and neighborhoods across the United States. Based on a successful pilot program that began in Washington, D.C. in 1994, DtlPTencourages middle school students to discuss and write about youth violence in their communities and to make personal commitments to do something about this problem. Currently, 18 major localities are active in the DtlPT program. Each city or county has a local Do the Write Thing Committee that oversees and administers the program. Each Commitee is a coali- tion of business, community and government leaders dedicated to reducing youth violence. During the 2000 school year, more than 36,000 seventh and eighth grade students from 300 middle schools participated in DtWT-sponsored classroom discussions about youth violence. More than 9,000 of these students chose to accept the "challenge" by submitting writings to their local DtlPT Committee and by initiating violence reduction efforts. More than 1,200 "school finalists" were honored at city recognition ceremonies and had their writings published and distributed locally. Two "national finalists" from each participating city were honored at a national recognition cere- mony in Washington, D.C. in July of 2000. The writings of these young people have been pub- lished and placed in the Library of Congress. In the past, major funding for the DtlPT program has been provided by the Kuwait-America Foundation, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Marriott Corporation and Kraft Foods. Additional funding has been provided by a number of foundation and corporate contributors. HOW DO THE WRITE THING WORKS At the beginning of each school year, the NCSV invites the superintendents of the school systems in the participating localities to select middle schools to participate in DtWF and provides program guidelines to the superintendents, their middle school principals and the appropriate seventh and eighth grade teachers. Following a classroom discussion about youth violence, participating students are asked to write answers to three questions: How has youth violence affected my life? What are the causes of youth violence? What can 1 and my community do to reduce youth violence? A panel of volunteers reviews the students' writings and selects as "school finalists" the boy and girl from each school who submit the most responsive entries. A panel of local "celebrity" readers then reviews the school finalists' writings and selects as "national finalists" the boy and girl school finalists who have submitted the best entries. Each year, every local DtlPT Committee publishes a book containing the finalists' writings, and holds a recognition ceremony to honor all of the student finalists and their parents, teachers and principals. The Committee also encourages the formation of groups called Community Peace Partnerships, that work with local government, business and community leaders to provide oppor- tunities such as job training internships, mentoring and academic scholarships for the students who have participated in the program. A panel of national "celebrity" readers, recruited by the NCSV, reviews the writings of all city national finalists. In past years, this panel has included such dignitaries as the Attorney General of the United States, the United States Secretary of Education and Members of Congress. The panel nominates the two boys and the two girls who have submitted the best entries to serve as "national student spokespeople" for the DtWT program. The NCSV also publishes a book containing the writings of all of the national finalists that is placed in the Library of Congress, and holds a national recognition ceremony in Washington, D.C. to honor these students, their parents and their teachers. The national student spokespersons work with the NCSV and the Chairs of the local DIIVT Committees to focus public attention on youth violence and promising solutions. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DO THE WRITE THING CHALLENGE Although selected students from the cities participating in DtlVI" receive local recognition from their city DtlPT Committee and national recognition from the NCSV, DIIF/T is not about winning a prize. It is an essential part of a long-term strategy to help students aod adults better understand each other and work together to prevent youth violence. This year, as a result of the DtW/T program, thousands of middle school students had an opportu- nity to candidly discuss youth violence. These discussions stimulated many of the students to for- mulate their feelings and thoughts into written recommendations for responding to the problem and to make personal commitments to do something to lessen youth violence in their communities. Teachers participating in DtWT report that they are amazed at the openness and honesty of the classroom discussions about youth violence. They also say that these discussions and the writings present excellent opportunities to identify and prevent youth problems before they reach crisis pro- portions. The value of the education and dialogue that DtWT stimulates - between students, between stu- dents and their teachers, and between students and their community leaders - is impossible to quantify, but they are clearly having a positive impact on the communities in which participating students live. In a meeting with the DtWT national finalists in Washington, D.C., Attorney General Janet Reno called DtlF/T one of the most promising primary delinquency prevention programs funded by the Department of Justice because it involves kids directly in the development of responses to youth violence in their communities. 2 WFDO / he National Campaign to Stop Violence would like to thank the following T organizations for participating in the Do the Wr/te T/a/ngChallenge Program. We realize that there are many people who worked very hard on this program who may not be listed. We would like to let them know that we greatly appreciate their contributions to the effort to end violence. PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS ABB Council of the Great City Schools Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Marriott Corporation National Association of Secondary School Principals National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges National Guard Bureau The Greater Washington Urban League, Inc. Kraft Foods, Inc. Young Astronaut Council The National Campaign to Stop Violence thanks the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for their continued sup- port of the Do the Write Thing Challenge program.