Mrs. Griffin’s “Facing History and Ourselves” essay contest

Submitted by kate.searle on

Mrs. Griffin’s classes they’ve begun talking about universal obligation, what it’s about, what it means. They had a full class discussion on this topic. As a class they’re each writing 500 words or less essays about this topic. Michelle Rushton answered by saying,“This means, who are the people who you’re willing to go and help? The people who mean so much to you that you’re always willing to help them out with anything.” This is also about understanding everything that happened in the Holocaust and just be informed about the horrors that occurred.

However, this competition is not just restricted to Mrs. Griffin's class or even schools in Utah, this is a giant competition for the United States and the UK.

The essay’s are inspired by the quote by Eli Wiesel, “Let us not forget, after all, that there is always a moment when the moral choice is made. Often because of one story or one book or one person, we are able to make a different choice, a choice for humanity, for life.”

The essay is supposed to reflect the people and things that inspire students to know what right and wrong really means to them, this could be books or people or even their pets. Mrs. Griffin stated, “This was set up by a non-profit organization named Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, everything they do is to encourage people to learn more about the Jewish Holocaust. This year’s theme is all about how we make choices on what is morally right or wrong and also what people, things or events influenced them and taught them the difference between right and wrong.”

Mitchell Marrott said, “It really opened up my mind and made me think who would I really help if they were in need?” Mrs. Griffin gave this assignment to her students to broaden their experiences outside of the school. She wants to not only challenge them but be able to light a fire under them and watch them go and just do things on their own time.

Many students have surprised Mrs. Griffin by going above and beyond but again, the contest was open to any student. Anybody could enter to win the competition The essays were due on Wednesday Mar 15 by 9:00 pm E.S.T. You never know who might win!

Attributions
By Sabryne Kelly of the Lion's Roar Newspaper
Attachment Size
Mrs. Griffin’s A-2 Class 663.47 KB