Savannah Morris, a sophomore at Bishop Stang High School, recently placed third in The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Creative Expression Contest of New Bedford. She shared, "As a Brazilian/Cape Verdean student, I am proud to submit my artwork to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of unity and hope."
Her artwork was created by selecting, arranging, and melting beads into a giant "Divide Be Gone" disinfectant spray can. Unity is represented as the beads and the variety of colors melted together to form the artwork. The can is meant to symbolize the infusion of hope and is decorated with hearts (love) as the means to bridge and eliminate the divide.
In 6th grade, she shared that she also won 3rd place in the same contest, but with an essay. This time around, even though she is an avid writer, she wanted to branch out and challenge herself this year and submit a new type of work - art. Since she was young, she enjoyed making these beaded projects as gifts and rediscovered her love for the art while making this project.
We are so proud of Savannah for challenging and expressing herself in a new and impactful way. Congratulations!
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Freshman, Marina Franzese, earned 2nd place in The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Creative Expression Contest with her original poem “A Dream of Many Minds.” The prompt encouraged students to share their points of view on bridging the gap of divide. Having volunteered in the special needs classroom at Quinn Elementary School in Dartmouth and participating in the Unified Sports Program, Marina was moved to write about neurodivergent people and how we should let them share their light as is, without judgment. You can read her poem below.
As a member of the Bishop Stang Poetry Club and School Newspaper, and a member of the Girls Soccer and Track teams, Marina stays busy and uses her talents in a variety of ways. Congratulations on your achievement, Marina!!
A Dream Of Many Minds
“I have a dream,” he once proclaimed
A world where no one is shamed or blamed
Where every mind can freely roam
And every person finds a home
Yet here we stand, so quick to judge
We nudge the different, hold a grudge
We say they’re strange, we say they’re lost
Forgetting freedom at a great cost
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to all”
So why do we build such towering walls?
We push aside those who don’t blend
And fail to see where hearts could mend
The child who speaks through silent ways
Whose eyes could tell a thousand plays
The girl who spins to her own tune
A world of stars beneath the moon
“Darkness cannot drive out dark”
Yet still we smother every spark
We force them into shadowed space
And miss the light within their grace
For the minds that flutter free
The ones who see what we can’t see
Whose thoughts are oceans, wild and deep
Whose secrets dance while others sleep
“We may have come from different ships,
but we’re in the same boat now” he often quipped
So why not let each spirit sail, on winds where differences reign
For what is normal but a chain, a way to crush, a way to stain?
We ask them to conform, be still
We clip their wings, deny their will
To the boy who flaps his hands in glee
Who laughs at things we cannot see
He hums along to calm his fears
And when he’s scared he plugs his ears
So, “Let us not drink from cups of hate”
But rather let our hearts vibrate
With love for those who don’t align
Who paint outside our rigid lines
Let us sing for every soul
For every mind that makes us whole
For who decides what's right or wrong?
Whose drum decides the marching song?
“The time is right to do what’s right”
To lift them up, to share their light
To change the world, to shift our gaze
And let inclusion blaze new ways
(Marina Franzese, Grade 9, Bishop Stang High School)