High School Writing Project Brings Together Survivors and Students.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 9, 2007 – LAWFUEL – The Law Firm Newswire – Ten high school students have been chosen from more than 4,100 entries nationwide to spend a life-changing week with 12 Holocaust survivors and educators on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C.
As winners of The Holocaust Remembrance Project, a national essay contest for high school students designed to encourage and promote the study of the Holocaust, they also will receive scholarships at an awards dinner at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., on July 19. This year, one student will be awarded a special one-time scholarship of $17,000 in honor of Virginia Tech University Professor and Holocaust survivor Liviu Librescu. The scholarship will be presented by Dr. James Bohland, vice president and executive director, National Capital Region Operations for Virginia Tech.
The event, now in its 13th year, is hosted by the law firm Holland & Knight and the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation. Holland & Knight is pleased to announce the 2007 national first-place winners:
William Babeaux, a senior at Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus, OH
Katerina Belkin, a senior at North High School in Sioux City, IA
Ashley Eberhart, a sophomore at The Culver Academies in Downers Grove, Ill.
Jeremy Feigenbaum, a senior at Bergen County Academies in Teaneck, N.J.
Elizabeth Keith, a senior at New Vista High School in Boulder, Colo.
Andrew Kendoll, a senior at McKay High School in Salem, Ore.
Xinyi Li, a sophomore at Duluth High School in Duluth, Ga.
Oren Mitzner, a senior at Miami Killian Senior High School in Miami, Fla.
Bianca Rosen Siegel, a junior at Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Fla.
Mark Salomon, a senior at New Trier High School in Glencoe, Ill.
“The law firm of Holland & Knight has established this program to educate young people about the dangers of using the law to promote prejudice, discrimination and the type of violence that could lead to genocide, and thereby rock the foundation of even the most advanced society,” said Holland & Knight Managing Partner Howell Melton. “We have a long history of reaching out to students, and in this matter, we believe the legacy of the Holocaust needs to be shared first-hand with today’s youth while survivors are still with us to relate their incredible stories, and bring the horror or the Holocaust to life for those who have only read about it.”
The Holocaust Remembrance Project is an educational program that serves as a living memorial to the millions of victims of the Holocaust. In addition to the prizes awarded to the 10 first-place winners, 10 second-place winners and 10 third-place winners also receive cash prizes, medals and certificates. The 10 first-place winners will visit Washington, D.C., and related memorials and participate in intense seminars and testimony from historians and survivors. Other events include:
Week-Long Immersion with Holocaust Survivors, July 15-20, 2007
The week-long transfer of testimony from old to young takes place from July 15-20, 2007. Each day will begin with testimony from a survivor of the Holocaust. The group also will hear from author, lecturer and historian Dr. Michael Berenbaum as well as New York Times best selling author Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007).
Stuart Eizenstat Keynotes Awards Banquet in Washington, D.C., July 19, 2007
The event culminates on Thursday, July 19, at an Awards Banquet at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., including a keynote address by former senior government official and Presidential advisor Stuart E. Eizenstat. Each student will be awarded a scholarship of up to $10,000 at the dinner hosted by Holland & Knight. Martha Barnett, chair of the firm’s Board of Directors, Mid-Atlantic Executive Partner La Fonte Nesbitt and Marketing Partner Janis Schiff will chair the July 19 gala.
About the Holocaust Remembrance Project: The Holocaust Remembrance Project was instituted by Holland & Knight in 1994 to commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps. Since its inception, the Project has awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships, cash, and prizes to young writers and acted as a living memorial to the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust. For more information and to read the winning essays, visit holocaust.hklaw.com.
