By Madeline Fuerstenberg, Community Reporter
The Mahmoud S Taman Foundation has extended the submission deadline until Dec. 1 for its annual Essay Contest for Chippewa Valley high school students.
The MST Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting peace, interfaith and civic causes, according to its Facebook page.
The contest theme again this year is “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” The contest is open to high school students in grades nine through 12, attending Chippewa Valley area high schools. Winners will receive cash prizes.
Essays must run 1,000 to 1,200 words
To participate, students must prepare an essay of 1,000 to 1,200 words responding one of five questions relating to the overall theme. These questions are:
1) What does racial, gender, and cultural diversity mean to you and how does it manifest in your local community in the Chippewa Valley?
2) How have the contributions of immigrant communities such as the Latino, Hmong, Somali, Bosnian and others impacted the Chippewa Valley?
3) How has the religion of Islam positively integrated itself into modern American culture and society? What is the history of the Muslim community in the Chippewa Valley and how has their presence enriched the local culture?
4) How are the goals of the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations relevant to your local community and how can high school students in the Chippewa Valley work to forward these ideas? (See (http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html.)
5) How can you bring your community together to address climate change?
Sahar Taman, executive director of the MST Foundation, said its “mission is really about promoting community (and) really highlighting the diversity in the Chippewa Valley.”
Taman said last year’s contest drew 46 entries, with six winners selected by a committee of foundation board members and volunteers. Taman said she hopes to see a similar number of entries this year.
She noted that the selection committee reads each essay submission, then uses a rubric to assess them.
Cash prizes for winners
First and second place winners from Chippewa Falls High School, McDonnell Central High School, Memorial High School, North High School, Regis High School and Altoona High School will each be awarded $300 and $200, respectively. Home school students or participants from other local high schools will be considered in their own pool for awards.
Taman said it is the foundation’s belief that exposure to inclusivity and diversity should start in high school. She also said the contest is designed to encourage lots of student participation.
“Students have to be motivated to do writing now,” Taman said.
Taman said it is the MST Foundation’s mission to embrace the racially and ethnically-diverse community in the Chippewa Valley, and through this competition, it is her hope that local students will do the same.
More contest information can be found at the organization’s website.