This year, we’re excited to be teaming up with the Gedenk Movement to present a special creative challenge, The Gedenk Award for Tolerance, which asks students to create original art or writing that reflects upon the lessons learned from the Holocaust and other genocides and attempts to raise awareness of the importance of increasing tolerance to safeguard a peaceful society.

Five Scholastic Awards participants will receive National Medals and $1,000 each for their work addressing the Gedenk Movement’s important mission.

With the introduction of this unique Award, we hope to encourage young people everywhere to express themselves using literary and artistic outlets while considering their roles in creating a more tolerant world. “It’s not easy to encourage young people to learn about atrocities such as the Holocaust, but this unique and creative approach has engaged them to embrace tolerance,” says Miri Ben-Ari, Grammy award-winning musician and CEO/Founder of Gedenk.

Work may be submitted within any of the Awards’ art and writing categories via our online registration system. Find out more about it this new opportunity at www.artandwriting.org/Gedenk.

And be sure to check out Gedenk’s new website, GedenkMovement.org. The site is a platform for self expression and includes forums, blogs, videos and an interactive dialogue that encourage young people to share how they’ve fought back against intolerance.