TEAM Westport’s 2023 Teen Diversity Essay Contest prompt is very timely.
The 10th annual event focuses on “The Dialogue Challenge: Effective Engagement on Race, Ethnicity, Religion and LGBTQIA+.”
Here is the prompt:
Team Westport’s mission is to make Westport a more welcoming community with regard to race, religion, ethnicity, and LGBTQIA+. In order to achieve its mission, one of TEAM Westport’s goals has been to promote opportunities for people to come together in dialogue to better understand each other’s experiences, decrease bias, and learn what we have in common. Meaningful dialogue depends on a good faith effort to set aside preconceived beliefs or what we think we know about other people.
In 1,000 words or less, reflect on your own interactions with people who have different racial, ethnic, religious, and/or LGBTQIA+ identities and/or perspectives. What kinds of conversations were particularly helpful in prompting you to rethink your beliefs or opinions, perhaps causing you to change your mind or enabling you to better understand others’ points of view? Based on these experiences, what specific actions would you suggest that individuals, schools, and/or town entities in Westport take to promote good-faith dialogue, reduce bias, and foster understanding?
Al students attending high school in Westport — or who live here, and attend high school elsewhere or are home-schooled — are invited to enter.
Subject to the volume and caliber of entries received, at the discretion of the judges, up to 3 cash prizes will be awarded. First prize is $1,000; second place is $750; third is $500.
Click here for contest entry rules online. The deadline is February 28. Winners will be announced April 18, at a ceremony at the Westport Library (co-sponsor of the contest).
“With the controversy and misinformation surrounding dialogues on diversity, equity and inclusion from national to local levels, there is nothing more important than what works for effective connection and genuine understanding,” says TEAM Westport chair Harold Bailey, Jr.
“Now at the advent of our first decade of the Teen Diversity Essay Contest, TEAM Westport welcomes the opportunity for Westport youth to weigh in on this critical question.”
First Selectwoman Jen Tooker adds, “I encourage the youth of our town to participate in discussions and programs that will enhance their experience in Westport, and ultimately, in the world beyond. I am confident that through their words, they will demonstrate that Westport is a community that welcomes conversation.”
“The Westport Library has made a fundamental commitment to creating and supporting inclusive communities, spaces, collections, and programs,” notes director Bill Harmer. “The annual TEAM Westport essay contest supports and extends our obligation to social justice, and ensuring a culture where all people are welcomed, valued and encouraged to succeed.”