Human Rights Day Contest
2009 Human Rights Essay Contest For Eighth Grade Students of Montgomery County, Maryland
Students are cordially invited to participate in an essay contest sponsored by the Montgomery County
Human Rights Commission and the Office of Human Rights. The purpose of this contest is to raise awareness of human rights issues and to celebrate 2009 Human Rights Day.
Your human rights are protected under Montgomery County law. Chapter 27 of the Montgomery County Code provides for equal opportunity in employment, public accommodations, housing, and commercial real estate. The law makes it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, age, national origin, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, genetic status, family responsibilities, gender identity, and (in housing only) source of income and presence of children.
Participants, families, friends, and members of the public are invited to the 2009 Human Rights
Day celebration on December 6, 2009 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at the Magruder High School
Auditorium, 5939 Muncaster Mill Road, Rockville, MD 20855.
Winners will be announced at this event. Click Here for Complete Details and Contest Entry Form.
Essay Topic
Choose a news event that occurred within the last year (October 1, 2008 September 30,
2009) in which you believe there has been a human rights violation. Use the Bill of
Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and/or the Montgomery County Code
Chapter 27 to prove your point. What do you think should be done about it? Who do you
think should be responsible for doing it?
Eligible participants
Students matriculating at the 8th grade level in any Montgomery County school public,
private, parochial as well as home schooled students.
Awards
| 1st place |
$500 savings bond |
| 2nd place |
$250 savings bond |
| 3rd place |
$125 savings bond |
| Honorable mention |
$50 savings bond |
*up to 10 (ten) honorable mention essays will be selected 2009 Human Rights Day Observance
Last year, seven students from Montgomery County schools were selected to receive awards for participating in an essay contest sponsored by the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Office of Human Rights. The awards were presented at a Human Rights Day Ceremony on Sunday December 7, 2008, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Richard Montgomery High School Auditorium, 250 Richard Montgomery Drive, in Rockville, MD. County Executive Isiah Leggett and Council President Phil Andrews attended the event. The Winners were as follows:
8TH Grade Winners
1st place, Ellie Durling, Washington Episcopal School - $250 savings bond
2nd place, David Zhang, Roberto Clemente Middle School - $150 savings bond
3rd place, Riley Griffin, Washington Waldorf School - $100 savings bond
7TH Grade Winners
1st place, Kalabe Mulugeta, St. Michael School - $250 savings bond
2nd place, Alexandra Eldridge, St. Michael School - $150 savings bond
3rd place, Kaleb Harris, St. Michael School - $100 savings bond
6TH Grade Winner
1st place, Samuel Kim, Takoma Park Middle School - $250 savings bond
The contest was open to all Montgomery County public, private and home-schooled students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The students were asked What Does Justice And Dignity For All Mean To You?
 In addition to the awards presentation, the HRC recognized the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948, the United Nations stated in clear and simple terms rights that belong equally to every person. Contest participants were asked to review the 30 articles of the Declaration and use a theme(s) from the articles to describe what justice and dignity meant to them.
A copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be found at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ or download
a pdf copy of the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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