Students Use Creative Expressions in Contest

Young students in Charles County have shown their creative spirit and been recognized for their work after entering the Creative Expressions contest sponsored by the College of Southern Maryland’s Diversity Institute. The contest theme this year was “Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice.” Finalists were honored at a ceremony on the La Plata campus.

The finalists included Rajan Venkatesh, a fourth-grader from Gale-Bailey Elementary School, for the essay, “Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice”; Christina Walker, a seventh-grader at Milton M. Somers Middle School for a drawing; Shayla Belton, a junior at Maurice J. McDonough High School, for a drawing of Beverly Bond; and Onika Samuel, a senior at Thomas Stone High School, for her spoken word presentation, “Who Am I.”

Elementary and middle school students received a $150 scholarship to CSM’s Kids’ and Teen College summer program, and high school students received a $500 scholarship they can put toward tuition at CSM.

The contest’s participants were asked to reflect on the theme using artwork, an essay, spoken word poetry, or digital media works. The entries were judged for their creativity, thought-provoking and informative content, relevance to the theme, and spelling and grammar. A panel of judges represented the Diversity Institute, Charles County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Charles County Board of Education, and the college.

“The Creative Expressions Contest provides young people in Charles County with an opportunity to conceptualize and reflect on the struggles of influential African-Americans past and present by expressing themselves through writing and visual arts,” Evan Green, CSM mentor program coordinator, said.

For information on the Diversity Institute at CSM, visit here.

For a gallery of photos from the Creative Expressions ceremony, visit here.

For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit their Leader member page.