We are excited to announce the award winning students from our 24th Annual Dennis Thomas Art and Writing Challenge! Our art and writing challenge, named in honor of its founder Dennis T. Thomas is organized to encourage and support local youth to address issues of peace and social justice through visual art or writing (creative writing or essay).
This annual contest is open to High School and Middle School students from across Contra Costa County. Each year, we receive a number of outstanding submissions and our judges often have a difficult time deciding on a winner for each category & grade level. This year, we selected one Grand Prize winner at the High School level and one at the Middle School level. These submissions were selected as the top choice of our judging panel, across all categories.
2022 Winning Entries
High School Grand Prize:
“Moving Forward” by Iris Khaund (Essay)
Grade 11 – Ygnacio Valley High School
Middle School Grand Prize:
“Making Unity Possible” by Kailin Xuan (Essay)
Grade 7 – The Dorris-Eaton School
Middle School Creative Writing First Prize:
“He Did Not Kill the Butterfly, but Gave Him Freedom” by Anaiah Singh
Grade 8 -The Dorris Eaton School
Middle School Essay First Prize:
“What Does Humanity Do?” by Avi Deshpande
Grade 8 – The Dorris Eaton School
Middle School Visual Art First Prize:
Angelina Zhao – Grade 7, Walnut Creek Intermediate