{"id":11072,"date":"2023-05-02T10:38:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T14:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=11072"},"modified":"2023-05-02T10:38:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T14:38:19","slug":"inaugural-contest-celebrates-the-season-for-nonviolence-through-art-poetry-and-resilience-of-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/inaugural-contest-celebrates-the-season-for-nonviolence-through-art-poetry-and-resilience-of-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural contest celebrates the Season for Nonviolence through art, poetry and resilience of humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

-Svetla Tomanova<\/em><\/p>\n

The Season for Nonviolence (Jan. 30 to April 4) is a global grassroots movement that has been raising awareness about the transforming power of nonviolence since 1998. It has grown into an important educational opportunity to bring communities together and empower them to create a culture of peace and nonviolence. It is celebrated in our community as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In the spirit of the Season for Nonviolence, the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with the Virginia Beach Season for Nonviolence Collective, coordinated an art and poetry contest called “The Art of Humanity.\u201d It was an ambitious undertaking, both conceptually and practically \u2013 the team of three had only a few months to plan. They challenged students and staff to submit original works of art or poetry inspired by at least one of the four themes: overcoming challenges, resolving conflict peacefully, supporting each other in the spirit of togetherness and infinite hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event is not only a contest for poetry and art, but also an opportunity for the students and staff to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about nonviolence and help create a more compassionate and understanding community,\u201d said Ty Harris, director of the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The ceremony opened with a reception in the Renaissance Academy foyer, where the Princess Anne High School orchestra provided entertainment. Present at the event were Mayor Robert M. \u201cBobby\u201d Dyer, Councilmember Michael Berlucchi, School Board Chair Trenace Riggs, School Board members Jennifer Franklin and Michael Callan, members of the ViBe Creative District, Virginia Beach Season for Nonviolence Collective, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and VBCPS families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power of hope is the division\u2019s strategy to help students and staff get through challenges they face,\u201d said Chief of Staff Dr. Donald Robertson, in his remarks. \u201cTonight you can see the hope is captured in their artworks and poems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neel Singh, an eighth grader with Old Donation School, discovered the power of hope in his poem, \u201cInfinite Hope:\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cInfinite hope,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A beacon bright<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Shining through the darkest night,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A guiding star,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A steady hand<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Leading us to a promised land.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Robertson went on and referenced Martin Luther King\u2019s Jr. famous quote, \u201cWe must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nearly 200 submissions came from teachers and children from early childhood to 12th grade \u2013 participants with different cultural and social backgrounds. Each \u201cartist\u201d brought a unique perspective and artistic style to their respective projects.<\/p>\n

Annabelle Holcomb, a ninth grader with Tallwood High School and one of the winners in the poetry category, offered these enlivening words in her poem, \u201cTogether:\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe hold each other\u2019s hand in unity<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Because we are so clever<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Without one another, we can\u2019t succeed<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We are one together, hand in hand forever\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The 10th grader, Sarah Pe\u0148a, created a poster that illustrates what we could accomplish if people work together toward a goal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Accompanying each drawing were the artists\u2019 written explanations of why they drew what they drew. Though simple in wording, these explanations inspire others to see the world through the artists’ eyes.<\/p>\n

Old Donation School seventh grader Tara Naemi-Santdoust drew a large flower symbolizing perseverance and kindness. Her artwork demonstrates how, even in the darkest of times, one continues to strive for the light and inspire others to do the same.<\/p>\n

According to Meredith Hobson, equity and opportunity coordinator, the winners were selected based on their originality, creativity and relevance to the contest theme. The top five contestants from each grade received a medal with the Season for Nonviolence logo. The artists received art kits while the poets were awarded journals.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to see the event\u2019s program, which includes a digital library of the poems.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The smaller flowers in Tara\u2019s drawing represent the people who were inspired by others.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

-Svetla Tomanova The Season for Nonviolence (Jan. 30 to April 4) is a global grassroots movement that has been raising awareness about the transforming power of nonviolence since 1998. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11072"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11093,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11072\/revisions\/11093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}