Stop The Hate Finalists Announced For 2021

BEACHWOOD, OH — Finalists for the 13th Annual Stop the Hate Youth Speak Out & Youth Sing Out contest were announced this week.

The contest is run by the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage and encourages high school and middle school students to write essays and create classroom songs that speak out against bigotry and bias. The contests annually awards $100,000 in scholarships and prizes.

Winners will be announced in mid-May through the Maltz's website.

This year's contest is comprised of two components: the Youth Speak Out essay writing contest for individual students, and the Youth Sing Out songwriting contest for school classrooms.

Since the contest began 13 years ago, the Maltz Museum has awarded $1.3 million to students and schools in 12 counties across Northeast Ohio, with an estimated reach of nearly 40,000 young people.

Here are the 11th, and 12th graders competing for a $20,000 scholarship:

• Lillie Alsheikhtaha, Grade 12, Brush High School
• Madaleine Carter, Grade 11, Beaumont High School
• Jessica Chang, Grade 12, Hathaway Brown
• Lauren Clar, Grade 12, Beachwood High School
• Lillian Irizarry, Grade 11, Beaumont High School
• AJ Shorts, Grade 12, Brush High School
• Kynnedy Smith, Grade 12, Hawken High School
• Thomas Smyers, Grade 12, Shaker Heights High School
• Khadija Top, Grade 12, Beaumont High School
• Bowen Zhang, Grade 11, Beachwood High School

Here are the 6th-10th graders competing for $500 cash prizes by grade:

Grade 6

• Calayla Holmes, Homeschooled
• Hayden Lipinski, Hudson Middle School

Grade 7

• Anthony Fritzgerald Jr., Saint Paschal Baylon School
• Anshul Sharma, Ballard Brady Middle School

Grade 8

• Shreya Chellu, Beachwood Middle School
• Sharbel Harb, Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School

Grade 9

• Margaret Anne Hustak, Holy Name High School
• Rafaela Nurieva, Mayfield High School

Grade 10

• Annel Hodges, Cleveland Central Catholic High School
• Elizabeth Huang, Shaker Heights High School

Here are the 2021 Sing Out finalists.

Middle School Finalists

• Stand Up and Talk About It, Written by Andrea Soncina's Grade 7 Class, Harding Middle School, Performed by Ray Flanagan
• Stand Up, Work Together, Cheer Up, Written by Andrea Soncina's Grade 8 Class, Garfield Middle School, Performed by Sam Hooper
• The Flames of Hate, Written by Andrea Soncina's Grade 7 Class, Garfield Middle School, Performed by Sam Hooper
• What Kind of Future?, Written by Tamara Blair's Grade 8 Class, Newton D. Baker School of Arts, Performed by Ray Flanagan
• When You See Us, Written by Renee Ritter's Grade 7 Class, Luis Munoz Marin School, Performed by Kyle Kidd

High School Finalists

• Daybreak, Written by Kari Beery's 8th Period Class, Mayfield High School, Performed by Bethany Svoboda
• Down the Line, Written by Dr. Donna Feldman's 3rd Period Class, Cleveland Heights High School, Performed by Charlie Mosbrook
• Fight On and See, Laverne McLain's 2nd Period Class, Max S. Hayes High School, Performed by Kyle Kidd
• Love Wins, Written by Lawton & Lundgard's 6th Period Class, Midview High School, Performed by Brent Kirby
• Our Pain, Laverne McLain's 4th Period Class, Max S. Hayes High School, Performed by Charlie Mosbrook
• Peace Amor, Written by Keri Waring's Class, International Newcomers Academy, Performed by Charlie Mosbrook