DEBATE KC SPEECH CONTEST ENTRIES

Cherish Heard – 1st Place

Sumner Academy 10th grade

Gun Violence is not the answer- Safety is

JaKayla Brown – 2nd Place

Sumner Academy 11^th grade

Community: The Pathway to Success

Arantzatzu (Ara) Melquiades Castellanos

Sumner Academy 9th Grade

Deaths to educate not to waste

Zailee Graham

Arrowhead Middle School 6^th grade

Enough is Enough

PARENT PROJECT

Are you struggling to keep your child or teenager on a good path? Do you spend a lot of time worrying about their choices and feel like your hands are tied?

Consider looking into the Parent Project.

WYCO Youth Services and Heartland 180 are starting a virtual Parent Project class on 4/29/21. The class is at 5:30pm each week through 7/1/21.

Go here to sign up!

There are also many other virtual options for those who speak Spanish or want to do the “Loving Solutions” curriculum designed for parents of 5-10 year old’s who are strong willed in nature.

JULIAN’S STORY

What does the Enough is Enough: Save our Kids. Save our Community. initiative mean to you?

Trinity Escobar/Harmon Student: “If we don’t work to keep our students safe, or ourselves safe, who is? Nobody can care more than we do, and we should care the most.” Jennifer Sperl/Sumner Teacher: “As cliche as it sounds, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and ‘children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.’ Both of these lines speak strong truths! Being a community of love, faith, honor, safety, and respect, we have the opportunity to change how young children are raised and have an opportunity to make impacts for a more positive future.” Jailyn Polk/Schlagle Student: “The initiative is trying to put an end to gun violence, suicide, and overdose problems. It’s also a segue to solving other problems like bullying or problems going on in our youths’ homes.  This is only the beginning of a change; the initiative is going to make it go further and the message hit home for a lot of people.” Kenia Ramirez/Schlagle Student: “Our community needs to work towards a common goal because we all want the same thing. It’s not going to be easy, but if everyone worked together and were nicer to one another, we can join forces to stop the big problems going on. We need to protect our students because they are the generation that is going to step up and be the ones who have to make the decisions for everyone else. If we keep losing our youth, then there will be no doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc. left. Our youth now are the ones who can make big changes, not just in our communities, but in the whole world.” LeAnn Richardson/Schlagle Teacher: “There has been a disconnect within the community.  There was a time when members within the community loved each other and cared for one another.  A love that makes a community better, a love where respect was given and not earned.  Now respect is earned by harming one another or taking advantage of one another.  As the community works together to restore these broken relationships, we will see the change that is needed to keep students safe.” Denazhia Williams/Schlagle Student: “I feel it is so important because we have so many people losing their lives. Our future is dying way too young. If we don’t work together and help them, we won’t have any doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc… if we keep losing them at a young age.”

The Kansas City, Kansas School Board and school district ask you to join our initiative to curb the violence going on in the streets of Kansas City, Kansas. Over the past year USD 500 has lost 21 students, many of them to gun violence.

Today we ask you to join us as we say “Enough is Enough.”