Dear Safe Schools Coalition Members and Friends:
(1) Thirteenth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest Announcement and Rules (for King County, WA 8th graders) -- deadline Nov 18
(2) Fund your project to promote fairness and dignity! Myra Sadker Student and Teacher Awards applications are now open for K-12 projects -- deadline to apply December 1
(3) Over age 12? Think it would be fun to be a judge in a youth screenwriting contest? Now's the time to join up at Scenarios USA!
(4) DUH! Recently published study finds that condom access makes a difference in young men's sexually transmitted disease rates
(5) new downloadable brochure Lesbian Health: Myths and Realities
(6) One more reason to like Intra-Uterine Devices (IUDs)
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(1) Thirteenth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest Announcement and Rules (for King County, WA 8th graders) -- deadline Nov 18
The King County Civil Rights Commission is sponsoring its Thirteenth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Essay Contest open to all eighth grade students attending public and private schools in King County. The purpose of the essay contest is to
encourage middle and junior high school students to think critically about Dr. King’s legacy of peace and justice.
The essay theme is: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Rules:
The essay must be between 750 and 1,000 words and must be typed and doubled spaced on white 8.5” by 11” paper.
Contestants must submit one typed original and one typed copy of the essay, by mail.
The name, address, home phone number, e-mail address, school, grade and age of student author must be submitted on a cover page, accompanying the essay. Do not place your name on any other page.
All essays must be in English and include a bibliography, utilizing at least one book source, but no more than one web site source.
All essays will be judged on the author’s: knowledge of Dr. King and his work in the Civil Rights Movement, originality of ideas, development of point of view, insight into the essay theme, clarity of expression, organization, and grammar.
All essays submitted become the property of the Commission and may be displayed on County web pages, in County publications, in local publications, and in the King County Tunnel. Submitted essays will not be returned.
Prizes:
First Prize: $100.00, Second Prize: $75.00, Third Prize: $50.00.
Deadline:
All essays must be postmarked by Friday, November 18, 2011, and mailed to: King County Civil Rights Commission, 400 Yesler Way, Room 260, Seattle, WA 98104. Essays postmarked after that date will not considered, nor returned.
Notification of Winners:
Winners will be notified by mail. Awards will be presented to the winners at the 25th Annual King County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on January 12, 2012, held in downtown Seattle.
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(2) Fund your project to promote fairness and dignity! Myra Sadker Student and Teacher Awards applications are now open for K-12 projects -- deadline to apply December 1
Subject: Gender Equity Funding
The Myra Sadker Foundation is excited to announce that applications for our 2012 funding awards are now available! Would you share these funding opportunities with your students, colleagues, and others who may be interested.
The Foundation sponsors 3 funding programs to promote gender equity:
· doctoral dissertation awards
· teacher grants for classroom projects
· grants for student projects.
We appreciate all those who work to create fairness in our nation's schools.
Thanks!
David Sadker
The Myra Sadker Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equity in and beyond schools. By working to eliminate gender bias, the Foundation enhances the academic, psychological, economic and physical potential of America's children.
The Foundation supports research, training and special programs for teachers, parents, children and all those whose work and interests touch the lives of children.
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(3) Over age 12? Think it would be fun to be a judge in a youth screenwriting contest? Now's the time to join up at Scenarios USA!
Hi There. We’re looking for 1000 good people to join the Scenarios USA REAL DEAL Selection Committee. As you know, Scenarios USA hosts an annual writing contest as part of a standards-based curriculum for youth in grades 6-12. Currently, thousands of young
people are writing about this year's topic: "What's the REAL DEAL about Gender, Power and Relationships?"
Two stories will be chosen to be made into films with the winning writers, working in partnership with Hollywood directors. The films will be made in the writers' hometowns, with professional film crews and the winners' teachers, family and peers helping
out in front of and behind the camera.
We need volunteer readers across the country to join the REAL DEAL Selection Committee and help choose the winning submissions. This is your chance to participate in the process and to hear directly from young people about their world and how they see
it.
Please note if you or one of your students is writing for the contest, you cannot participate in the Selection Committee.
Who: All adults and youth over age 12, can be a member of the Selection Committee.
When: Sign up right now. We stop recruiting on December 31st. You will receive an email by the first week of February with a link to your scripts and a rating form.
What: The email will link you to a rating form with a maximum of 10 submissions to read and rate. Each script is approximately 7-10 pages long. It usually takes 90 minutes – 2 hours to read them. You will have
ten days to complete the rating form.
Questions: Just give me a call or shoot me an email and tell your friends!
"My experience as a Selection Committee member for your writing competition has changed my outlook toward my family, students and people in general. It was a pleasure getting teens' perspectives on their own life encounters."
-- Ashley Torok, Teacher
Rob York, Director, Media Production and Distribution
p. 718.230.5125 | f. 718.230.4381
80 Hanson Place Ste 305 | Brooklyn NY 11217
Scenarios USA :: What’s the REAL DEAL?
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(4) DUH! Recently published study finds that condom access makes a difference in young men's sexually transmitted disease rates
Condom Availability Program in an Inner City Public School: Effect on the Rates of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Infection
Journal of Adolescent Health (journal of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine)
Study authors: Sharon R. Wretzel, M.D.a, Paul F. Visintainer, Ph.D.b, and Laura M. Pinkston Koenigs, M.D.a,*
a Department of Pediatrics, Baystate Children’s Hospital, Springfield, Massachusetts
b Department of Academic Affairs, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
ABSTRACT
Purpose: Sexual activity and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates are high in adolescents. In this study, we sought to determine whether the initiation of a school-based condom availability program was associated with a decrease in STI rates.
Methods: We compared the rates of STIs in 15–19-yr-olds reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the 3 years before and after a condom availability program was introduced in Holyoke, MA,
as compared with a similar city, Springfield, MA, which did not have such a program.
Results: Holyoke males, aged 15–19 years, showed a 47% decrease in the rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection combined over the 3 years after the implementation of the condom availability program, whereas
similar aged males in Springfield had a 23% increase in the rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection. The difference in regression slopes in this period was significant (p .01). Females, aged 15–19 years, from either
Holyoke or Springfield, showed moderate, variable changes in rates of STIs after 2005; there was no significant difference in the regression slopes of STIs between Holyoke and Springfield.
Conclusions: Initiating a condom availability program in a city’s high school was associated with a decrease in STI rates for 15–19-yr-old males but not females.
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(5) new downloadable brochure Lesbian Health: Myths and Realities
Available from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (aka ILGA).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some art and some text is explicit. Most appropriate for use in non-school settings with high school-aged people or on college campuses.
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(6) One more reason to like Intra-Uterine Devices (IUDs)
Previous studies have shown that, unlike the IUDs of the 1970's, IUDs today are a perfectly good option for teens and young women even if they have not had a pregnancy. Some are more effective than sterilization and they are reversible if a woman does
want to get pregnant later.
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form with your check made to "Safe Schools Coalition":
Safe Schools Coalition
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1401 East Jefferson Street, Suite 401
Seattle, WA 98122
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The Safe Schools Coalition is a public-private partnership of 60+ organizations (government agencies, schools, community agencies, churches, youth/student groups, gay/lesbian groups, human rights groups) and 100+ individuals working to help schools
become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org
Got a problem at school with anti-gay harassment?
In Washington State:
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Intervention)
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