(CANTON, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost commended 18 Canton middle-school students for their compelling essays offering ideas for reducing youth violence to create a safer community.
“You’re giving all of us … a window into your world, and that helps us understand how we can work together to make things better.” Yost said in a video addressing the students, this year’s finalists in the Canton City School District’s Do the Write Thing program. “I admire your honesty and the courage that it took to put your thoughts out there – you were brave.”
The National Campaign to Stop Youth Violence created Do the Write Thing in 1994 to encourage young people to be a part of the solution to violence. The program asks seventh- and eighth-graders to reflect, heal and lead through their writing.
Yost’s office began partnering with the nonprofit agency in 2021 to introduce Do the Write Thing to Ohio middle-schoolers. The Springfield City School District was the first to participate, with the Canton, Cleveland, Lima, Youngstown and Zanesville districts joining in various years thereafter.
Now in its fourth year, the Canton district this year drew 1,085 submissions from students at Crenshaw, Early College and STEAMM Academy middle schools.
Eighteen finalists were honored today during an award ceremony at the All City Grille in Canton, with the students’ teachers and community leaders also in attendance.
Business leaders and community members judged the essays, selecting the 18 for publication in a special booklet to be distributed statewide.
One of the 18, Kayla Porter, was chosen to represent Canton in July during the Do the Write Thing National Recognition Week in Washington, D.C., alongside four peers from the other participating districts.
AG Yost’s message encouraged students to continue being voices for change.
Canton Schools Superintendent Jeff Talbert applauded the program’s impact.
“To our students, I offer sincere appreciation for sharing your honest and raw submissions,” he wrote in a letter. “Writing is a positive and healthy outlet to work through feelings and thoughts about personal experiences. You are already making an impact by expressing yourselves and sharing your passion and courage through these written works.”
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