WHS Annual Unity Essay Contest

in partnership with the Musikavanhu family and Wellesley High School

In 2018 the Musikavanhu family established an annual high school essay contest to encourage students to share their perspectives on unity and defeating racism.

2021 Prompts

Why Everyone (Conservative, Liberal or Otherwise) Needs to Unite in Defeating Racism in America.
Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor To Name of Few Were Shot and Killed Primarily by a Continual Undervaluation of Black Lives. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indigenous People Are More Likely Than Any Other Race To Be Victims of Police Brutality. Recently, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Have Faced A Spike in The Number of Violent Attacks Against Them, Even by Other People of Color, Due to A Misplaced Blame for COVID19’s Devastation. If You Were in a Position of Leadership, What Would You Do to Stop the Blatant Disregard for The Lives and Rights of People of Color in America?

Formats

Written – Awards will be given for essay submissions that are no longer than 750 words. Submissions must include all necessary citations, otherwise they will be disqualified.
Audio / Visual (Short) – Tik Tok – Awards will be given for videos no longer than 60 seconds and no shorter than 45 seconds. Submissions must include all necessary citations, otherwise they will be disqualified.
Audio / Visual (Long) – YouTube – Awards will be given for videos no longer than 5 minutes and no shorter than 1 minute. Submissions must include all necessary citations, otherwise they will be disqualified.

Judging Criteria

Criteria for judging the essays and the presentations include quality of the written essay both in form and content and student delivery qualities for the video submissions. Accuracy of facts, demonstrated mastery of the topic, effective communication of concepts, thoughts, and ideas, proper use of voice and articulation, and originality all are important. Plagiarism is not acceptable. Credit must clearly be given to any source where borrowed material is directly used or quoted. Students will be marked and potentially rewarded, regardless of the conclusions they come to, per se, on the following:

Written

Thoroughness and accuracy of the research into the topic;
Clarity of reasoning and presentation of the data, opinion and facts unearthed by the research process; and
The practicality of solutions and actions to be undertaken by the student in ensuring that the following from the US Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” can be implemented to the elimination of racism in the Union, and in time, the world beyond;

Audio / Visual – Short (Tik Tok) or Long (YouTube)

Thoroughness and accuracy of the research into the topic;
Clarity of reasoning and presentation of the data, opinion and facts unearthed by the research process;
Creative Impact; and
The graphics, sound / music and or animation assist in presenting an overall theme that is appropriate and informs the audience, enhancing the concepts researched with a high impact message (in line with the chosen prompt).

Awards

Recognition for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places receive Gold, Silver or Bronze medal certificates and the respective monetary awards of $500, $300 and $200. The 4th and 5th placed participants will receive commendation with no certificate or monetary reward. Awards are presented at the Wellesley High School Senior/Underclassmen Awards evening.

Congratulations to Our Winners

2021

Darielle Calhoun
Jade Foland
Lily Jin
Mason Kahn
Tanvi Venkata

2020

Lauren Kim
Aaron Lai
Taryn Lane
Yuhan (Claire) Liu
Julia Pekowitz

2019

Taryn Lane
Sadhana Mandala
Sierra Sinclair

2018

Carina Coelho
Jennifer Guo
Kay Rideo
Clementine Starck

Thank You!

We appreciate every student who participates in this essay program. Thanks you for sharing your reflections. We enjoy reading all of your essays!