Manzanar Committee Announces First Annual Student Awards Program
On March 2, the Manzanar Committee announced its first annual Manzanar Committee Student Awards Program, a creative works program in which K-12 students may submit essays, short stories, poetry, works of art, including drawings, collages, posters, and works involving technology, including animation, podcasts, movies or videos.
The awards program will recognize students who demonstrate an understanding of his/her guiding principles of social justice in today’s society. Winning entries will be eligible for prizes up to $100, and their works may be presented at the 47th annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 30 and online at www.manzanarcommittee.org and/or http://blog.manzanarcommittee.org.
“We are launching this annual awards program because this years theme is ‘Kodomo no Tame ni: For the Sake of the Children — Liberty and Justice for All,’ and we need to hear from the children,” said Jenny Chomori of the Manzanar Committee. “We need to know what their thoughts, feelings and ideas are regarding today’s climate, in terms of our history and our constitutional rights. We need students to know about history so that our legacy carries on and so that history does not repeat itself.”
“Following the guidelines and criteria for this program, students will be rewarded for expressing their knowledge and feelings about the World War II experience of Japanese Americans and how it relates to today’s social climate of racism and civil rights issues,” said Colleen Miyano of the Manzanar Committee. “It is our hope that this experience will encourage young people to examine historical events so that we may learn from past mistakes and that they will gain an awareness of the fragility of our constitutional rights.”
Categories for submissions include short prose genres, art, and technology. The deadline for entries is March 25. Winners will be contacted so that they may make plans, if they so choose, to attend the Manzanar Pilgrimage, where they will be presented with their awards.
Entry forms, and further information, including program rules, can be downloaded at: http://blog.manzanarcommittee.org/2016/03/02/saprogram
For more information, email studentawardsprg@manzanarcommittee.org or call (323) 662-5102.