In Memory of Jacob Friedman
Film Winners | Art Winners 6th-8th Grade | Art Winners 9th-12th Grade | Writing Winners 6th-8th Grade | Writing Winners 9th-12th Grade | Judges
This year we received more than 900 entries from 73 different schools! Thank you to everyone who participated and who helped to make this our biggest contest yet!
See the (long!) list of participating schools, teachers, and students!
Students were asked to respond to the quote above. Winners were selected by a panel of judges - artists, teachers, and community members.
The contest is open to 6th-12th grade students in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. See complete list of Contest Guidelines. 2018 Writing, Art and Film Contest theme will be announced in the winter.
PRIZES: $200 - 1st Place. $100 - 2nd Place. $50 - 3rd Place. Prizes awarded by category.
WINNERS OF THE 2017 CONTEST
FILM - 9TH-12TH GRADE
1st Place - "Do Not Go Gentle" by Andy Shaw, Reece Newhouse, Robert Krieger, Daniel Quach, Grade 10. Mountlake Terrace High School. Teacher: Erin Grambush.
2nd Place - "United We Stand" by Andy Nguyen, Selam Ayele, Sharanjit Natt, Justin Guaren, Karly Rismoen, and Christian Todorakev, Grade 10. Mountlake Terrace High School. Teacher: Erin Grambush.
3rd Place - "Choose Kindness" by Jamie Duthie, Grade 10. Enumclaw High School. Teacher: Alysha Holmquist.
Honorable Mention - "Antisemitism" by Ellie Gottesman and Isabel Funk, Grade 9. Mercer Island High School. Teacher: Chris Twombley.
ART - 6TH-8TH GRADE
1st Place - Mercedes Sarah, Grade 8. Jewish Day School, Bellevue. Teacher: Nance Adler.
“Protest Peels Away What Silences Us” - This represents how many people feel silenced by society. It can be because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexuality. But protest is one of the ways to be heard, to peel away what silences us. Protest reminds us that we can speak and make a difference. And each and every one of us can resist the way society silences us. When we stand together and speak the truth we become leaders, shining light in the darkness.
2nd Place - Ella Gonchar, Grade 8. Jewish Day School, Bellevue. Teacher: Nance Adler.
This is a painting of a protest but the signs are blank and the people have no faces. The painting includes all of the different skin colors to represent all of the races in the world because everyone should know that they have the power to protest in the face of injustice. The painting symbolizes protest itself without specifying a cause or a people. The signs are blank because the people in the painting try to protest against the wrong in the world but there is often so much wrong in the world that we are powerless to prevent all injustice.
3rd Place - Anna Brown, Grade 6. Cedar Park Christian School, Bothell. Teacher: Hahnna Christenson.
I drew this eye to be an eye of a bystander. The eye watches but does not help because of fear. The black around the eye is the sin it has seen. The eye cannot get rid of black for it is like a scar. I drew this to show the perspective of a bystander.
Honorable Mention - Amador Enguerra, Grade 8. Showalter Middle School, Tukwila. Teacher: Emily Tran.
My piece shows Jews behind a barbed wire fence and a person in front of the fence holding a Black Lives Matter sign. This represents the relationship between the Holocaust and what is happening today. My piece demonstrates the similarities of the struggle of people who have been oppressed. I was inspired by the quote by Elie Wiesel and a famous photograph of a Black Lives Matter protest to show that even though we may have “overcome” the Holocaust, the hatred then still exists now and we need to continue to fight until everyone has equal rights.
Art - 9th-12th Grade
1st Place - Elizabeth Brummer, Grade 10. Eastside Catholic School, Sammamish. Teacher: Ailis Thornhill.
My piece is entitled “Breakthrough” because one of the most devastating effects of the Holocaust was the loss of identity amongst thousands of innocent human beings. In my piece, the person is rebelling, or breaking through this smothering of identity (portrayed by the covered up face); she is speaking out and standing up for what she believes in. Additionally, the star at the bottom is labeled “human” because it is an injustice to label people by their race, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation. We are all simply human beings, and should all treat each other with equal dignity and respect.
2nd Place - Joey Simanek, Grade 11. Kent Mountain View Academy, Des Moines. Teacher: Nora Douglass and Kristy Banks.
The piece that you see is a representation of activism and standing up for your beliefs. Each symbol was hand cut out of a large sheet of copper, and each represents a different stance. I chose copper because it is a reddish metal. Red represents power. I also didn’t clean the metal to show the grittiness of activism. The necklace is set upon a background of black, to represent the oppression of activism. I thinly painted it to show that activism removes oppression. The quote in the center represents the things people go through to be an activist.
3rd Place - Hattie KenKnight, Grade 10. Seattle Preparatory School, Seattle. Teacher: Matt Barmore.
This painting compares the past as well as the present. The right side represents the Holocaust, including a picture of the wire fences bordering the concentration camps transferred onto the painting. The background color is a diluted and dull blue, matching the color of the Star of David on the armbands the Jews were forced to wear. The left side depicts the border wall between the United States and Mexico. In both scenarios, the groups have been subject to injustice. The red in the center, which bleeds outwards, symbolizes those who speak up about these atrocities to the world.
Honorable Mention - Naomi Knipp, Grade 11. Kent Mountain View Academy, Des Moines. Teacher: Nora Douglass and Kristy Banks.
We will not be silenced. We will not be ignored. Misogyny is a global gender equality tragedy and it is imperative that it stops. This piece speaks to victims of rape and mistreatment. The transparent red hand can be interpreted two ways. If one chooses to see a hand covering a mouth, one may see a predator muffling a woman’s screams while sexually assaulting her. However, if one chooses to look beyond the hand, the voice of change is visible. This woman is fighting. She is shouting. Sexism is a toxic injustice and it is vital that it ends.
Writing - 6th-8th Grade (Excerpts)
1st Place - Jordyn Famimiko, Grade 8. Showalter Middle School, Tukwila. Teacher: Emily Tran.
I utter to you, who is reading this, through my pint-sized mouth.
View yourself through a cleaner lens.
See the power of your voice.
Feed your mind with exceeding amounts of knowledge,
And use this in your combats with injustice.
For, injustice cowers at the profoundness of your echo
Click here to read the full piece.
2nd Place - Rosie Marasow, Grade 8. Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder, Seattle. Teacher: Devorah Kornfeld.
And if he once again dragged by his collar, yet this time to something worse.
He will keep singing his song.
Loud and clear while he gets pulled to his death.
The words he will scream so not one person will say they didn't hear.
The words 'Ani Ma'amin' will ring in their ears.
Ani Ma'amin, I believe.
Click here to read the full piece.
3rd Place - Gabi Adams, Grade 8. Assumption St. Bridget School, Seattle. Teacher: Gerrie O’Leary.
In school books, paragraphs upon paragraphs analyze past historical figures, events, and artifacts. Each book and time period are riddled with horrifying stories of death and destruction, giving the minds of young, impressionable students a perspective of what the future history books will contain. We have little effect over the events, but immeasurable influence over the reaction. So, the controls still remain in our hands; we each have the power to change those impending paragraphs with ripple effects that may eventually turn to massive waves or even tsunamis. If, in fact, we sit back and do nothing while injustice is executed, the response will be nothing compelling enough to gather anyone to protest.
Click here to read the full piece.
Honorable Mention - Hannah Willison, Grade 8. St Luke School, Shoreline. Teacher: Rosemary Conroy.
Faye Shulman, a fearless woman, was not powerless to prevent injustice. After witnessing the brutal slaughter of her family, she chose to protest, by joining the resistance and fighting a guerilla war in harsh conditions so that the Jewish people would survive and eventually take their rightful place in Israel.
Click here to read the full piece.
Honorable Mention - Samantha Alfonso, Grade 8. Meridian Middle School, Kent. Teacher: Debora Robinson.
If only I had stood up for her. How could I call myself her friend? I could only imagine where she is now and what or how she’s doing. In a world like ours, she could be killed for who she is. For something she couldn’t change and it is unfair. There some cruel people in the world who aren’t too fond of people who aren’t like them. And it wasn’t just sexuality. So many lives have been lost because of race, religion, gender. All because no one would stand up for them. She was one life I could have helped.
I’m sorry Elise. For everything.
Click here to read the full piece.
Writing - 9th-12th Grade (Excerpts)
1st Place - Semira Beraki, Grade 10. Mountlake Terrace High School, Mountlake Terrace. Teacher: Chris Ellinger.
My country
This world
Can’t continue on like this
We need to unite our people
Gather our forces
Muster up the ounce of courage still buried deep within our souls
And remember this, remind ourselves
As long as we’re still breathing
We can’t stop the fight
From the great words of MLK
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
We have to push on, no matter how powerless we are
Endure a little more
And from what I’ve learned from Elie
Who will be missed dearly
To never fail to protest
Click here to read the full piece.
2nd Place - Sophia Vandewark, Grade 10. Eastside Catholic School, Sammamish. Teacher: Ailis Thornhill.
My role was defender, the others: attackers.
They asked: why?
I would not have had an answer had it not been that another in my role had said thank you
Although I could not stop the hurt from coming, I made it so they were not alone--
I spoke with my actions, telling them that I heard and saw. And that it was not alright with me.
Click here to read the full piece.
3rd Place - Jacqueline Johanneson, Grade 10. Eastside Catholic School, Sammamish. Teacher: Ailis Thornhill.
If these walls could talk, would they use their words to perpetuate the heartache they have accumulated?
Would they use their voice to cry?
or cry out?
Would they weep tears for all of those who could not?
Exemplifying the very humanity which millions were deprived of.
Or would they, too, be left without words?
Click here to read the full piece.
Honorable Mention -Timothy Jenkins, Grade 10. Kent Mountain View Academy, Des Moines. Teachers: Kristy Banks and Nora Douglass.
When the radio announced that Germany Invaded Poland in 1939,
Our lives soon turned to peril
The lives we live right now, our worlds will soon turn around
My parents tried their best to hide me and my brother Alek,
My mother would always comfort me saying
"Angelika, no matter what happens to us... look for the light."
Click here to read the full piece.
Thank you to our panel of judges!
Kate Boris-Brown
Mario Campos, Jones & Jones Architects
Eva Casey, Student and past winner
Liz Ebersole, Library/Digital Media Specialist
Bob Evans, Educator
Sophie Feldman, Student and past winner
Stephanie Felix, Stephanie Felix Photography
Jennifer Fliss
Michael Hirsch
Chris June, Museum and Art Studies
Rachael Kitagawa-Hoshide, Jones & Jones Architects
Russell Lidman, Professor Emeritus, Seattle University
Roedah Mansour, College Access Now
Kelly Miller, Educator
Daphne Minkoff, Artist
Amy Pleasant, Huffington Post
Penny Rhines, Past winner
Yuna Shin, Student and past winner
Aava Sikchi, Student and past winner
Carli Snyder, Graduate of the PLU Holocaust Studies Program
Christine Texeira, Hugo House
Kevin Troung, College Access Now