In Reach Raises
Awareness about Teen Dating Violence
Hyattsville, MD | On February
15, 2013, In Reach’s Youth Ambassadors held True Love, True Reality, a
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Reception and Program to recognize
National Teen Dating Violence
Prevention and Awareness Month which included
awarding the winners of their first county-wide poetry competition.
Statistics show that nearly 1.5
million high school students nationwide experience abuse from a dating partner
in a single year, or roughly 1 in 3 teens. “The
Youth Ambassadors are amazing and have worked really hard to raise awareness
about such an important issue. The poetry contest and the reception have
allowed us to reach communities throughout Prince George’s County.” said
executive director Ms. Toni Smith.
Congratulations again
to our True Love, True Reality Poetry
Contest winners and Honorable Mentions:
First Place - Justina
Molokwu, senior, Parkdale High School, for Broken
Cycle of Tears
Second Place - Marie Iyomahan, sophomore, DuVal High School, for Dashuri (Albania for Love)
Third Place - Bethel Babayemi, freshman, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, for The Many Faces of Love
Honorable Mentions - Amber Patton and Maria Lorditch of
Bowie High School and Damilola Adeyemi of Largo High School
In addition to
the winners, congratulations and thank you to the Parkdale artists who provided
the beautiful artwork for the awards: José Lima Rosas, Joshua Newman and
Jamilet Cordan.
A special thank you Dr. Judy Dubose, Director of the
Prince George’s County Department of Family Services - Children, Youth &
Families Division for bringing greetings and Ms. Dannielle Glaros, Chief of
Staff, Prince George’s County Council Member Eric Olson’s (D-3) office for
presenting the Youth Ambassadors with a Proclamation and making our program a successful and memorable
event. We could not have done this without your support.
In
Reach would like to thank
all 23 of the Poetry Contestants:
Bowie High School - Maria
Lorditch, Amber Patton, Coco N. Terry
Frederick Douglass High School - Noelia Cruz
DuVal High School - Marie
Iyomahan
Fairmont Heights High School: Karim Kambo
High Point High School - Karina Escobar
Largo High School - Damilola
Adeyemi, Nnedi Agubokwu
Laurel High School - Cierra
Major
Parkdale High School - Christian
Bautista, Elvin Cruz, Elmer Hernandez, Deon Magnus, Justina
Molokwu, Jissella Urquilla
Potomac High School - Ja’Kwan
Craddock
Eleanor Roosevelt High School - Bethel Babayemi
Suitland High School - Gabrielle
Durant
Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr., High School - Gilberto Hernandez, Maryam Siddique, Patrice Sykes, Diamond Ward
Read more about the True Love,
True Reality Project, view event videos and pictures, download the poetry
souvenir book, and sign up for the mailing list on our informative teen dating
website, www.truelovetruerealitypgc.inreachinc.org.
The
Youth Ambassadors, based at Parkdale High School, offers students a variety of
opportunities to become college and career ready, build financial literacy life
skills, and engage in meaningful service learning projects, like this one, to
address the issues that directly impact them.
Based in Cheverly, MD, In
Reach, Inc., is a tax exempt 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization designed
to prepare students for college, work and life. Founded in 1999, In
Reach envisions healthy, productive and prepared young adults in
every family.
