Lansing High School Students Recognized at EJI Essay Contest Celebration Ceremony
Twenty Lansing High School students wrote essays for the Equal Justice Initiative essay contest earlier this school year. We are excited to announce that three of our students received honorable mentions, and five were cash-prize winners. The essay contest was optional for any Leavenworth County high school students and was created to help students learn about our local history and promote a good and just community. According to the EJI.org website, the essays were to "examine the history of a topic of racial injustice and to discuss its legacy today." Essays were to "explain the chosen topic using a specific historical event(s), explore how the injustice persists, and imagine solutions for a future free from racial injustice." They also asked students "to reflect on how the topic impacts their own lives and communities."
The twenty Lansing High School students who participated in the contest were recognized in the auditorium of Lansing High School on Thursday, May 19th, at a Celebration Ceremony led by the Leavenworth County Equal Justice Initiative Team. Rev. Dr. Dave York started the ceremony with an introduction and welcomed the students, families, and staff to the celebration. Bishop Tony Major, Pastor of Glimmer of Light Church, and Joana Scholtz, Chair of Leavenworth NAACP, then gave some information about the contest and read the list of winners. Also in attendance from the Leavenworth County Equal Justice Initiative Team were Edna Wagner (Director of Richard Allen Cultural Center and Museum), William Wallace (Richard Allen Cultural Center and Life-Long Resident of Leavenworth), and Carla Wiegers (Church Council Chair of First United Methodist Church of Leavenworth and member of Lansing USD 469 school board). AP Language teacher, Ms. Maeve Bolin, also helped facilitate the ceremony.
Congratulations to the following winners:
- First place winner: Lexi Perry - "Black Mothers Matter"
- Second place winner: Cole Hahn - "A Vote for Everyone"
- Third place winner: Niklas Schintgen - "Richard Nixon: The New Jim Crow"
- Fourth place winner: Jessica Lange - "The Systemic Housing Inequality"
- Fifth place winner: Emma Miller - "We are More than a Single Story"
- Honorable Mentions:
- Max DaMetz - "The Individual Choice to Utilize One's Voice
- Samuel Schmidt - "They're Right. Schools are Literally Prisons (for some)"
- Skyler Martynowski - "Medicaid Fuels Racial Health Disparities"
After the winners were announced, the top five students shared why they chose the topic. First place winner, Lexi Perry, then read her piece for the audience.
All the students who participated received a copy of Bryan Stevenson's #1 bestseller, Just Mercy, and the winners received an autographed copy of the book. The top five winners also received a personalized plaque and cash prizes ranging from $500 - $2,500.
Miss Perry has also been invited to read her essay at the Juneteeth celebration on Saturday, June 18th, in Leavenworth.
Great work to all the students who voluntarily submitted a piece to the contest. Lansing USD469 is incredibly proud of you for putting thought into your essays and representing our district well!