Essay contest espouses respect, helps fight cancer
Gail Kerr | The Tennessean
Nov. 21, 2011
Respect. Aretha sang about it. And more than 800 Metro public school fifth-graders wrote about it.
And all four winners of a new essay contest have dedicated part of their prize money to cure cancer.
"We've all seen a decay in respect in our society," said Randy Kinnard, an attorney who thought of the contest. His firm, Kinnard, Clayton & Beveridge, sponsored it and put up the $8,000 in prize money.
They asked fifth-graders to answer two questions: What is respect and why is it important?
As you can imagine, the responses brought the wisdom only children can bring.
"If the world wasn't created with respect, it would be terrible," said first-place winner Susannah Loss, who attends Meigs Middle Magnet School. She drew a picture of a bleak world with dark clouds, bare trees and wilted flowers "before respect." "After respect," the sky is bright, the sun is shining and birds are chirping in the green trees. The flowers are blooming.
Her school and charity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, each got $1,000. She got $200, plus $800 in savings bonds.
"Both of my grandpas died of cancer," she said, adding that she hopes researchers can find a cure.
That sentiment was echoed by second-place winner Elijah Broadus, who goes to Thurgood Marshall Middle School. His winnings will help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. His entry?
"Don't talk about someone who doesn't have expensive clothes or clean, nice shoes," he wrote.
Alexa Mitchell of Apollo Middle School and Sam Ferrell of East Literature Magnet shared third-place honors. She selected breast cancer as her charity; he picked St. Jude.
Respect, she said, is having the instinct "to know right from wrong, but we can go beyond that."
Sam said respect is simple. It's taking the trash out when your mom asks you the first time.
A hard-earned lesson
Kinnard was delighted by the winners. But other than drawing some good publicity to the law firm, why on earth did he do this? Because of his past, he said.
"I'm a Vietnam veteran. When I came back, I went to law school. I had some anger issues and I wasn't always as respectful as I should be."
It took him awhile, and some busted relationships, to get his emotions under control. What he concluded was that respect is the key to keeping yourself in check.
"You can be so much more successful if you have respect," Kinnard said. "When you're angry, you just can't be respectful."
He became a public speaker on the subject but realized he was reaching adults, not kids. The essay contest was an attempt to generate respect before these children learn bad habits.
"If they can think charity, promote charity and select a charity, that promotes respect," he said.
Every member of the law firm, from secretaries to paralegals to the partners, looked at and graded all 800 entries. The children's names were not included, so it was a fair judging. The winners were hailed in a ceremony at the Metro Courthouse.
The last word goes to the winner: "When you're respectful, this little action can cause a chain reaction."
As will this essay contest.
