Annual Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest now open
AKRON — The Akron-Summit Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education will coordinate the 35th year of the Akron-Summit Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest.
This year’ s theme is “Lest We Forget: Preserving the Record of the Holocaust.”
The contest is open to Summit County students in grades 6 to 12, with a Feb. 3 entry deadline. Winners will be chosen in two divisions for three categories: nonfiction writing, historical fiction writing and visual arts. Entries for students in grades six to eight will be judged as Division I, and entries for students in grades nine to 12 will be judged in Division II.
Winners will be chosen based on interpretation of the contest theme, technique, originality and use of factual sources. Winning pieces will be displayed March 27 to April 24 in an exhibit at the Akron-Summit County Main Library, 60 S. High St., as well as at AkronSummitHolocaustEducation.org.
First, second, third and fourth place winners in each of the six entry groups will receive a prize, as will the teacher of each first-place winner. In Jewish culture, giving money in multiples of $18 is symbolic of giving “chai” or life. The first-place winner receives $234, the second-place winner receives $180, the third-place winner receives $90 and the fourth-place winner receives $36. Teachers of the first-place winners will have $200 credit or a comparable gift to purchase books from a suggested resource list created by the library.
The students who create the prize-winning entries will be recognized April 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the library during the Akron-Summit Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education’s Holocaust Commemoration and Awards Ceremony.
This ceremony also will commemorate and remember the lives of the 6 million Jewish people and 11 million others that were killed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators during the Holocaust.
Organizers of this program are supported by Summit County, the City of Akron, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, the Jewish Community Board of Akron and donations from the community.
For more information or to submit an entry, visit the above website.