“Fostering Fallon” was written by Westerville Central seniors Breanna Johnson and Madalyn Toole.
May 21st could be a big day for Westerville Central High School seniors Breanna Johnson and Madalyn Toole. As finalists in the B’nai B’rith International Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge, the girls and their English Language Arts instructor, Natalie Taylor, have been invited to an awards ceremony at the Thurber House in Columbus. They wrote and submitted a book called Fostering Fallon. Taylor helped edit the book and art teacher Jen Kiko consulted on the artwork. At the award presentation event, they will learn where they placed in the contest, how much scholarship money they won, and how much money Westerville Central will be awarded. The first place winner will have their book published.
The Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge is B’nai B’rith’s tolerance education program that asks high school students to write and illustrate a children’s book that recognizes diversity or tells a story of tolerance. This year’s contest sponsor is McGraw-Hill Education. Pupils are required to think about how inclusion can improve our world, and then create innovative ways to teach these ideas to elementary-aged children through a book. Executed through public and private high schools, the initiative aims to promote a greater understanding of different cultures, lifestyles and attitudes among students of all ages.
Since the program’s inception in 2006, B’nai B’rith has awarded $165,000 in college scholarships, published 20 original children’s books (with one in Spanish) and donated more than 28,000 books to schools and libraries in contest cities across the country.
B’nai B’rith International is universally respected as one of the oldest and largest organizations. Through a variety of community-based programs in partnership with several large school districts, B’nai B’rith is also a national leader in providing nonsectarian tolerance education programs to thousands of students each year.